


Roadside Rescue

by itchyfingers



Category: Chris Evans - Fandom
Genre: Cunnilingus, Domestic Violence, Drugs, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Oral Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Restraining Orders, Romance, Slow Burn, Vaginal Fingering, chris evans in a gun belt, officer!chris, police officer, southern, with a dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-24
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-22 11:21:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 54,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2505926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itchyfingers/pseuds/itchyfingers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the cop rescues you, sometimes he gives you the courage to rescue yourself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a dark and stormy night. At least it wasn’t raining on her, yet, though with the way the wind was whipping at her hair, it wouldn’t be long. She knelt on the gravel at the side of the county highway and looked under her car, using her phone as a flashlight, for the little notch where the jack needed to go so she could lift her car enough to get the damn flat tire off before some serial killer got tired of doing satanic sacrifices with the cows in the fields and came after her. Three of the stupid animals were standing at the barbed wire fence just a few feet away chewing their cud and watching her. Maybe they were plotting. After working a double down at the steakhouse, she was sure they could smell their dead brethren on her and were planning their revenge.

“Alright, Riley,” she said out loud, just to hear something besides the cows chewing and her own thoughts of homicidal bovines, “let’s get this done.”

The wind whipped around her skirt, tugging it up her thighs and not for the first time she cursed the impractical uniforms she was forced to wear. The rocks digging into her knees were probably going to run her tights, and that’d be another ten dollars she was out. The flat was bad enough – hopefully she would be able to patch it instead of having to buy a new tire – but tights were a ridiculous expense. Unfortunately they conveyed a ‘hands off’ message better than nylons and she couldn’t afford to slap any more wandering hands.

With a sigh of relief she found the notch in the car’s frame and slotted the jack into place. It was such a small car that a minute later she was reaching for the cross wrench to loosen the lug nuts. Rain began to spatter on the ground as she struggled to break the hold on the nuts. The flashing lights of her hazards illuminated the raindrops as they began to intensify, stinging against her cheeks and slicking the metal handle of the wrench. She swore as her hand slipped and the wrench landed on her foot.

She grabbed the wrench and was about to try again when she noticed headlights approaching. “Oh dear God, please don’t let me be raped and left for dead on the side of the road. And please don’t let him have a hook for a hand or be wearing a hockey mask or be drunk or steal my tips. They’re not much, especially for a double shift, but I need them to buy food for next week and the last few books for class. Please, God, I don’t wanna die, and I’m trying to be a better person, so please, help me out here. Amen.” She wasn’t sure what her Vacation Bible School teachers would’ve thought of the format of that prayer, but the red and blue flashing lights that appeared on top of the approaching vehicle seemed like an answer directly from God.

Riley watched as the cop car pulled up directly behind her and the officer got out of the car. The headlights made her painfully aware of the stains on her uniform and the snags in her tights as she stood up. He got out of his vehicle and the first thing that popped into her mind was,  _that is a very large man._  When he got close enough so that she could actually see him, the next thing was,  _that is a very good looking man._  It was like every beer commercial she had ever seen rolled into one uniformed package for her convenience.

“I’m Officer Evans. Can I help you with that flat, ma’am?”

She held out the wrench to him. “I can’t get the lug nuts off.”

He smiled as he took the wrench from her. “Why don’t you go sit in my car? The heater’s running and I’ll get this changed in just a few minutes.” Officer Evans walked her back to his car and opened the door for her. He ducked inside. “Okay, Bandit, this is,” he stopped and turned back to her, “I’m sorry I didn’t get your name.”

“Riley.”

“This is Riley. She’s going to hang out in here with you while I change her tire, so be nice.”

She held her breath as she peered around his shoulder to get a look at the criminal miscreant she was going to be sharing the car with and saw a German Shepherd sitting in the back seat and a K-9 unit logo on the side of the car. With a shaky laugh she climbed in the front seat of the car and held her hand out to Bandit. “Hi, Bandit.”

He snuffled her palm a few times and then laid down in the back seat.

“I’ll be right back,” Officer Evans said and smiled before he shut the door.

Riley had never watched porn in her life, unless that one time at Krystal’s house in high school when her brother thought it would be funny to accidentally show her porn instead of the music video he had promised counted as watching porn. She was fairly sure, however, that she was watching it now. The man had biceps bigger than the cantaloupes in her garden and huge shoulders that narrowed to a slim waist in a perfect triangle like he was the most delicious slice of pizza ever. And then his butt. She really needed to stop looking at his butt. She sipped her coffee and stared at his thighs instead. That wasn’t much better. Watching him squatting and his uniform shirt pulling across his back and shoulders as he forced the nuts loose was so pretty. So very very pretty.

Riley stopped staring when he put the flat and the jack back in her little blue car. It had been a nice break from the normal drudgery of her day but now it was back to real life and the fun of navigating home in the rain with a spare tire. She said goodbye to Bandit and stepped out of the car, meeting Officer Evans half way in between their two vehicles.

“If it’s all right with you, ma’am, I’d like to follow you and make sure you get home safe. That spare looks like it’s older than you.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure that there’s criminals out there you should be tracking down or something important.”

He ran his hand over his light brown hair, wiping the rain back away from his face. “I’m actually off shift myself, and I’d feel better if I knew you made it home. You wouldn’t want me tossing and turning all night because I’m worrying about you stranded on the side of the road by yourself again, would you?”

His smile was so sweet and charming it was almost unsettling. “Well no, of course not,” she started to say and he grinned.

“Then that’s settled.”

“Um, right.”

She scurried to her car to get out of the rain and pulled back onto the road. The two lane highway was completely abandoned except for the cop car right behind her. She reached for her cup of coffee and found it unexpectedly heavy in her hand. A wash of embarrassment swamped her as she realized she had been drinking the cop’s coffee. They had gone to the same little drive-up stand and had ordered the same thing. Was he going to arrest her for stealing his coffee? It had been an accident.

Riley finally pulled into the weedy gravel driveway next to her small house. She could almost think of it as hers now; Grammy had been dead for two years. She grabbed the cup of coffee from the console and ran to the police car. Officer Evans rolled down his window and she shoved the coffee at him. “I accidentally drank your coffee. It was so nice and warm in your car and we get the same kind and I didn’t realize until I got back in my car so here.” She waited for him to take the cup but he didn’t. “Please take it; it was an accident and I feel bad and please don’t arrest me.”

He laughed and took the coffee from her. “I wasn’t going to arrest you. I just thought I had been really thirsty earlier.”

“I really am sorry.”

“Do you realize you’re bleeding? On your leg?”

She looked down and saw that her white tights had stained red around her knee and on her calf.

“Dagnabbit. There must have been broken glass in with the gravel.”

“Do you have a first aid kit, Riley?”

Why was he so nice and concerned about her? She’d never met a cop like this before, and the way he said her name, all soft and melty and deep, made her stomach flop over and giggle. “No, but I’ll just wash it off with some soap or something. It can’t be that deep of a cut,” she trailed off.

He was already getting out of the car. “I’ve got one in the trunk. Let’s go inside and we’ll get you fixed up.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“You wouldn’t want me tossing and turning all night worrying about you getting gangrene and having to get your leg amputated because of some strange infection you picked up, right?”

Again with that smile that made her forget about the blood and the flat and the rain. “Are you this big of a worrier about everyone you help?”

“Just the ones who steal my coffee.”

She hugged her purse against her chest and stared down at her scuffed shoes. “It was an accident, I swear.”

He chuckled as he closed the trunk. “Let’s go inside and get your leg cleaned up.” He waited for her to lead the way.

She looked back and forth between the large officer and her little yellow house. “You mean inside my house?”

“I thought it would be a bit more comfortable than having you take off your tights and hop up on the trunk and letting me treat you here in the rain.”

Her eyes froze wide open as that visual seeped into her brain. Porn. More porn. He said it with such an innocent smile, too. That somehow made it worse. “Yeah,” she slowly said. “Inside would be better.”

She walked through the rain in a daze, trying to remember if she had shaved her legs that morning. “You should bring Bandit inside as well,” she called back over her shoulder. “No sense leaving him out here by himself.”

Riley’s hand trembled as she put the key in the lock of her front door. She heard the car door open. “Come on, Bandit. Riley said you can come inside. Best behavior, okay?”

She repeated his suggestion to herself. Best behavior, Riley. Best behavior.


	2. Chapter 2

Riley fumbled for the light switch in the vestibule and flipped it on so she could find the light switch for the living room. “Let me get you a towel. Or do you want to put your shirt in the dryer?” She hurried through the living room and into the dining room, scanning to make sure there was nothing embarrassing lying about. “Can you even do that? I don’t know what the rules are for uniforms like that. You have all those patches and things.”

“I normally get them dry cleaned, but if you don’t mind, I’ll just take it off and drape it over one of your dining chairs and let it dry out a bit.”

“Sure,” she squeaked and then shook her head. “Sure,” she said again in her normal voice. “And I’ll go get Bandit some water.” She fled to the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards to find a bowl she thought would be large enough for the animal’s huge tongue. She glanced back into the dining room to see Officer Evans draping his uniform shirt over the back of her chair, leaving him in a tight black t-shirt. Bandit sat at his side.

“I think my grandma has this same tablecloth,” he called to her.

“It’s my grandma’s as well. All this stuff is actually. I lived with her and she passed a few years ago and I feel like I’m disrespecting her memory if I change anything. Only worked up the courage to take the plastic sleeve protectors off the arms of the couch a few months ago.”

“That’s a big step.”

Riley came back into the dining room with a big glass bowl – one of grandma’s Pyrex casserole dishes actually – full of water and set it on the floor next to the wall. Officer Evans patted Bandit’s head. “You’re off duty, boy. Go get a drink.”

Riley watched as the dog lapped up half of the contents of the bowl in a few seconds. “I don’t have any dog food. I’m sorry. I might have some ground chuck in the icebox I can thaw out if he’s hungry.” She was still looking at the dog so she wouldn’t stare at the officer and his chest.

“He’s fine, Riley. I keep him well fed. We normally go for a run when we get home, but we’ll have to put that off a bit tonight.”

“I’m so sorry for inconveniencing you,” she said to her feet.

“It’s not a problem. Actually, it’s nice to have an excuse not to go running in the rain.”

“Are you hungry?” She twisted her hands together behind her trying to remember what she had to eat. Not much. “Can I make you a sandwich or get you a beer or something?” she continued to babble. “Can you have beer? Is it illegal to offer beer to a police officer?”

He took the few steps necessary to cross the dining room to her and chucked her under her chin so she would look up at him. “Riley, I’m fine. And I’m not going to arrest you, okay?”

She blinked a few time as she stared into his blue eyes. “Okay. I’m just not used to having a police officer in my house and I feel like I’ve done something bad.”

“Well,” he unbuckled his gun belt and put it on the table, “if I tell you to call me Chris does that help?”

She looked at the heavy belt with a gun and handcuffs and other things she didn’t recognize sitting on top of her grandma’s pink and yellow flowered tablecloth and back at the officer – at Chris – standing there in his tight black t-shirt and the way his slim hips were even more apparent now that the belt was gone. “Yes,” she lied through her teeth. “That helps.”

“Good. Now, let’s get you fixed up. What do you want to do about those tights?”

Riley looked down at her ruined tights. She couldn’t tell how many cuts she had suffered as the blood had soaked into the fabric. She’d been so distracted since Officer Evans had shown up that she hadn’t really paid attention to the pain but now that she was back in her home and relatively safe the adrenaline of barely escaping death by cow stampede was wearing off and her brain was beginning to register the pain.

“Um, I’ll go change clothes. Be right back.” She fled to her bedroom. Wishing she had time for a shower she quickly stripped off her uniform and tights. She winced as she saw the variety of cuts on her leg. “What did you do, Riley? Kneel on a beer bottle?” She sighed. “At least you shaved your legs this morning.” She refreshed her deodorant, brushed her hair and pinned the damp almost shoulder-length waves back with a blue bobby-pin, and used the heels of her hands to rub away the smudged makeup from under her eyes. “One step up from a drowned rat, Riled Child,” she muttered.

She pulled on a pair of cutoff jeans and her favorite Alison Krauss t-shirt from that one time she’d seen her in concert and limped back out to the dining room. Taking off the tights had seemed to be the signal for her leg to start pitching a biblical fit. Bandit had managed to crawl under the table and was curled up, his head cushioned on his forelegs. Officer Evans had opened his first aid kit and had laid out what he thought he would need. He stood as soon as he saw her limping and grabbed her under her arms and helped her take the last few steps to the chair. “You suddenly realize you’re bleeding?”

“Yeah. All of a sudden it really hurts.”

“I know that feeling. I didn’t realize I’d been shot once until I’d finished chasing the guy down and had him in cuffs.”

“You got shot?”

“Eh, just grazed.”

Her eyes scanned his exposed skin looking for a scar and he pulled up his shirt to show a four inch scar traced across his side. She dug her nails into her palm to keep from touching it. And the rest of his abs. Pretty pretty abs and the lovely hint of a happy trail above the waist of his trousers. She mentally shook herself back to attention. “That looks like more than a graze to me.”

“Well, it didn’t go in.” He chuckled. “Anything that doesn’t leave an actual entry wound counts as a graze to me.” He pulled his shirt back down and sat down in the chair opposite her. “Now, put your leg up here.” He patted his thighs.

“I can do this myself.”

He was still smiling as he patted his lap again. “Nope, all part of the service provided by your friendly neighborhood police officer.”

“I don’t remember seeing this part on Sesame Street growing up.” Nevertheless, she placed her leg across his.

He looked at the collection of scratches and cuts on her calf. “What did you do, Riley? Kneel on a beer bottle?”

“I wondered the same thing. It looked like it was just gravel. Maybe I should get a flashlight to keep in my car or something.”

He looked at her with mock reproach. “You don’t have a flashlight in your car?”

“No Officer. I don’t have an emergency flare or jumper cables either,” she answered with her first real smile of the evening.

He tore open an antiseptic wipe. “Maybe I will have to arrest you.”

“For what? Criminal inability to be a functional adult?”

His answer was cut off by a pounding on the front door. Riley covered her face with one hand and slumped in her chair.

Chris lifted an eyebrow. “You expecting company?”

“Not so much expecting as not surprised.” She braced her hand on the table to stand up as the pounding on the door repeated along with the shout of her name. Chris put his hand over hers.

“Let me get it.” He helped her put her leg down and then went to answer the front door. Riley rested her head on the table and crossed her arms over her head.

The pounding happened again and was cut off by Chris answering the door. “Can I help you?”

“Who the fuck are you? Why’s there a cop car out front? Where’s Riley?”

“I’m Officer Evans. Can I help you with something?” Riley listened to the conversation from the dining room and prayed that Colt would just leave.

“I want to see Riley. Why are you here? Did something happen to her?”

“She’s fine. She’s just a little scraped up.”

Riley tightened her arms over her head as she heard the sound of a body hitting the door. Colt came charging into the living room. “Riley!” he bellowed.

She stood up, keeping one hand on the table as she turned to face the man. “Calm your britches. I’m fine.”

“What happened to you?”

She tried to remember why she had ever found him handsome. “I cut my leg trying to change a flat tire. Will you please just go?”

He swaggered into the dining room, his normal rolling gait lubricated by at least a few beers from the smell on him. “Come on, baby, don’t be like that.”

“I’m not your baby, Colt. And I told you before I don’t want you coming by here no more.” Bandit crawled out from under the table and sat next to Riley. She rested her fingers on top of his head.

“Aw, you didn’t mean that.” He tried to slide his arms around her waist, but she slapped them away. “I got us a little treat.”

“Are you even more of a moron than usual tonight?” she hissed, her eyes darting meaningfully to the police officer standing in the living room watching this little exchange.

She missed the hand signal Officer Evans gave to Bandit, but the dog started pawing at the front pocket of Colt’s jeans and whining. He tried to shove the dog away, but Bandit was insistent.

“Get your dog off of me, Riley. When did you get a dog?”

“Bandit, sit.”

Bandit immediately obeyed the officer’s order and sat back down next to Riley. She sank into the chair and dropped her head onto the table. Bandit stuck his head in her lap and she wearily petted his head.

“I’m sorry, sir, I’m going to have to ask you to empty your pockets.”

“You can’t make me do that. You don’t got a warrant. I don’t have to submit to no search.”

“The alert of a trained narcotics dog is considered legal grounds for probable cause for a search. I’m going to ask you again to empty your pockets.”

There was silence for a few beats and then Chris started talking. “You’re under arrest for the possession of methamphetamine.” He picked up his gun belt and fastened it back on as Colt started protesting.

“That’s not mine. Honest. These aren’t even my jeans. I don’t know how that got in there. Promise.”

She squeezed back the angry tears that swam in her eyes. God bless Colt and his amazing ability to keep screwing up her life, even a year after she had given him what she had thought was his final shove out the door. It wasn’t like she thought anything was going to happen between her and the handsome officer, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent five minutes with a nice man who treated her like a real human. The clink of the handcuff’s fastening was quickly followed by the view out the corner of her eye of his shirt being removed from the back of the chair. Colt was still proclaiming his innocence.

“Riley,” Officer Evans said, “I’m going to have to go deal with this.”

“Of course.” She smiled brightly, falsely up at him. He smiled and led Colt out of the dining room and back towards the front door. Bandit followed after him. She couldn’t see the front door from where she sat but she heard it shut.

His first aid kit still sat on the table. She stood to go after him but her leg decided it was done working for the night and she fell back into her chair. With a little grunt she hefted her leg into the chair where he had sat. She picked up the open antiseptic wipe and began to clean her cuts. The pain and sting of the chemicals let her shed a few tears without embarrassment.


	3. Chapter 3

Riley was just finishing packing all the supplies back into the first aid kit when there was a soft knock on the door and she heard it open. “Hello?”

“I’m back,” Officer Evans said as he walked into the living room.

“That didn’t take long. Did you let him go or something?”

“Nah. Called a buddy of mine to come take him down to the station since I’m technically off-duty.”

“Well, I cleaned up my leg so here.” She grabbed the first aid kit and stood up to give it to him, but her leg buckled on the first step. She grabbed the back of the chair he had been using to keep from falling.

Officer Evans hurried over to her and helped her sit back down. “Are you okay? You shouldn’t be hurting this much from those cuts.”

She nodded and rubbed her hands over her tired thighs. “I did a double shift today. I always feel like I’m going to fall over at the end of those.”

“Should I carry you to bed and tuck you in so you don’t fall over trying to get there on your own?”

Riley’s brain completely shortcircuited and she stared dumbly at him for several seconds. When it rebooted and was functional, she changed the topic completely. “Where’s Bandit?”

Chris’s cocksure grin was ample evidence that he realized exactly what she was doing and why she was doing it. “I left him out in the car.”

“Why?” She didn’t understand why Chris was looking at her skeptically. “What?”

“I wasn’t sure if he was going to find any more little treats if I brought him in.”

It took her a second to understand what he meant. Her mouth fell wide open in outrage. “You think I have drugs in here.”

“I don’t know. Colt seemed awfully comfortable bringing them to you.”

Riley rolled her eyes. “Colt’s as dumb as a snake with its head up its butt,” she muttered.

Officer Evans sat back in his chair and looked at Riley, scratching his face right along his ear. “I’m just trying to decide if I should trust my first impression of you or not.”

“I don’t know. What was your first impression?”

“Old car, waitress uniform, down on her luck, but trying to fix her tire instead of waiting for someone to come save her meant you were doing your best to get your life together. And then I got closer to you and I saw the biggest blue eyes I’ve ever seen in a sweet innocent face and a bottom lip that was meant for tugging with my teeth.”

She shuddered and saw his nostrils flare in response. “You really shouldn’t say things like that to me in that tone of voice,” she said weakly.

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “What tone of voice?” His fingers brushed against her uninjured knee and she shivered again.

“That one. All deep and melty like that. You sound like the most delicious grilled cheese sandwich ever made.”

“And that bothers you?”

She braced her good foot on the ground and shoved her chair back a few inches. Officer Evans grinned and sat back in his chair again. “You do this to all the girls you rescue off the side of the road?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then why me?”

“Because you made me take your coffee. Most people wouldn’t have even noticed. Or if they had, they wouldn’t have cared. Seemed to me you might be as innocent and sweet on the inside as you looked.”

She scraped her teeth over her top lip a few times. “And now you’ve seen a bit of my past and I look like something the cat dragged in?” She dragged the conversation back to the important topic by sheer force of will.

“I’m a cop, Riley. I just need to know that if I get sweet on you, I won’t end up arresting someone every time I come over to visit.”

A tingle rippled over her entire body like that time lightning had hit the tree next door. He was thinking about getting sweet on her? She wondered if Grandma had smelling salts tucked away somewhere because she might just be coming down with an attack of the vapors. “Well that depends.”

“On what?”

She folded her arms over her chest. “How long you’re gonna keep Colt locked up.”

“He show up like that a lot?”

Riley sighed. “If we’re gonna talk about Colt, you should go bring Bandit inside.”

Officer Evans smiled. “Come here.” He scooped her up from her chair with no warning and carried her into the living room. Riley grabbed on to his shoulders. Not only was he big, he was hard as a rock.  “If we’re gonna keep talking, I think you’ll be more comfortable on the sofa than on that wooden chair.” He carefully placed her on the cushions and walked to the door, opened it and whistled. About ten seconds later Bandit came trotting in.

“I thought you left him in the car.”

“I did. It’s set up so he can let himself out.”

“Well that’s convenient.” Bandit thrust his head into her lap. “Do you need ear scritches?” she cooed at the large animal. She petted him and scratched behind his ears and giggled when his hind leg began thumping the ground. “Oh, you’re a big softy. You look all big and mean but you’re a sweetie aren’t you.”

“He’s sweet until he decides to crawl into your bed at two in the morning and start shoving you out of it so he can hog the whole thing to himself.”

Riley laughed and rubbed Bandit’s head some more. “Is he not good about sharing the bed, boy? I’ll have to keep that in mind.” She dared to glance over at the officer to see his reaction and was gratified to see a faint blush appear on his cheeks. It was nice to know she could set him off-balance as well. Bandit finally settled down at her feet and she gave up delaying. “So. Colt.”

“Colt.”

“I’ve known Colt since forever. The only reason he knew who I was, though, was because he was best friends with my older brother. Those two did everything together. Quarterback and wide receiver. Did you play in high school?”

He nodded. “Tight end. Played in college too.”

“Did you want to go pro?”

“I knew I wasn’t good enough. I was just having fun.”

She shoved her hair back again and readjusted the bobby pin that had slipped. “Colt always thought he would be in the NFL. I ran into him again at Grandma’s funeral. I was swept away by the awe of it all, Colt Thompson talking to little ole me. Felt like I was in high school again, but this time I was going to be one of the popular girls. We started dating at the beginning of summer, and you know how it is. Down at the lake watching the stars come out. Throw a few blankets in the back of the truck, bottle of Jack and a little bit of weed sometimes. The usual.”

Evans raised an eyebrow at her. “The usual?”

She cocked her head to the side. “Did you grow up around here?”

“No. Other end of the state.”

“You didn’t have a lake or something all the teenagers went to during the summer?”

His smile was soaked in memories. “We had the river.”

It was her turn to raise a skeptical eyebrow. “And you’re gonna tell me you didn’t borrow your daddy’s truck and take a girl out to the river some night and get a little drunk and frisky?”

He laughed, throwing his head back and slapping his chest. “Guilty as charged.”

“Did you ever smoke a joint?”

There was the faint hint of a blush again as his smile grew bashful. “A few times. Before I knew I was going to be a cop.”

“Speaking of which, will you take off your belt so I don’t feel like I’m going to get arrested for what I’m telling you?”

He smiled and stood up. She watched him take off the gun belt and set it next to her grandma’s bowl of glass fruit on the coffee table but she blinked in surprise and turned away when he unbuttoned his shirt. “There,” he draped the shirt over the arm of the sofa and sat down a bit closer to her. “No more Officer Evans. Just Chris.”

She stifled the sigh she wanted to make in response to his melty voice reappearing. “Chris,” she softly said.

He nodded and very carefully took her hand from her lap and held it between his.

Riley stared at it a few seconds before she continued. “We dated for a long time and I finally broke it off and he can’t seem to get it through his thick head that I was serious. It’s like he can’t hear the word no, especially if he’s heard yes before.”

“How long ago did you break up with him?”

“About eight months.”

“And he’s still coming round? How often?”

She turned so she was facing him and rested her head against the back of the sofa. “Usually about once a week.”

Chris stroked her hair once and tucked it behind her ear. “What do you do when he shows up?”

“Depends on how much he’s been drinking. Sometimes I can get him to leave. Tell him it’s that time of the month and he’s long gone. After a while he figured out that I can’t always be on my monthly though. Sometimes I just let him crash on the couch because it’s easier than fighting with him.”

“Have you ever called the cops?”

She snorted and then blushed at the indelicate sound. “Call the police on Colt Thompson? No. The rules don’t apply to guys like Colt.”

Chris’s eyes narrowed and he scooted a little closer. Her good leg was tucked under the injured one, and he didn’t want to bump her. “What does that mean?”

“He took us to state. His daddy owns half this town and his momma is relations with the other half of it. It’s been hard enough in this town since word went round that I broke off our engagement. I’m not going to make it any worse.”

“You were engaged,” he said, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.

“It seemed like the smart thing to do at the time. I dropped out of university when Grandma got sick. I didn’t have any prospects career-wise. Marrying a Thompson sounded like a good idea.”

“What happened?”

She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see his reaction. “The occasional joint down at the lake turned into actually having a pretty serious cocaine habit he’d kept hidden from me. He would get mad at me for not using and telling him he should stop, so I finally changed all the locks on the house and dropped off the ring at his work. Finally called my brother to come haul him off my porch that first night after a few hours of him ranting and raving.”

She felt a tap on the end of her nose and opened her eyes. “There’s the beautiful blue. So he just shows up once a week or so?”

“Um yeah.” Her brain was still giggling from the compliment as she tried to respond. “This is the first time he’s brought meth, though. At least as far as I know.”

He edged a little bit closer. “I want you to promise me something, Riley.”

“What?”

“If he shows up again, you won’t let him in.”

“But he just stands out there pounding on the door and hollering until I do.” She waved at the front door.

“Then let him holler.”

“He’s making a scene.” She shook her head frantically. “I’m not gonna inconvenience the neighbors with my dirty laundry.”

“Riley, you don’t let him in anymore and you call me. I’ll come get him.”

“That’s very nice of you, but I don’t think it’s actually illegal for him to come knock on my door.”

“We can make it illegal. Get a restraining order.”

She scooted back into the corner of the sofa. “I couldn’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Get a restraining order against Colt Thompson? I’m not in an episode of  _Law and Order_ , Officer. I’m in Stakesville, Alabama. We don’t do those things around here.”

“You’d be surprised how many people I’ve arrested here in Stakesville, Alabama for violating a restraining order. People may not talk about it, but it happens.”

She just shook her head again. “I’m not going to get a restraining order. He’s just big and dumb, not dangerous.”

Chris leaned back and sighed. “You really are as innocent as you look, aren’t you?”

“Am I supposed to feel bad about that?”

“No, but please don’t let him in next time. I’ll come get him off your porch as soon as you call me.”

“You don’t have to protect me. That’s not your job.”

“Actually, it is. Cop, remember?”

He grinned at her and she smiled in response. She couldn’t help herself. “That’s not what I meant. I can take care of myself.”

He scooted over so he was close to her and took both her hands. “I know you can. I’d just like to help.”

Riley stared at their joined hands. She didn’t think she remembered what help was like. “Why would you want to help me?” she whispered.

Chris ducked his head enough that he could see her eyes. “Because innocence is rare in my world, and I don’t want it getting hurt.”

She turned over their hands so she was holding one of his and began rubbing the fleshy pad at the base of his thumb. “How long do you think he’ll be in jail?” she asked, without looking at him.

“At least for the night. He’ll probably get arraigned tomorrow and post bond.”

“And if he’s convicted?”

“Depends on how much he had on him, and what else they find when they search his vehicle and residence. Possession of a schedule two CDS should be at least a year in prison.”

“Huh. That would be a nice break.”

“Riley…” His hands tightened on hers.

“No. I know I probably look tiny to you because everyone’s going to look tiny compared to you and your continentally sized shoulders, but I am a big girl and I’m going to deal with this how I choose.”

Chris smiled. “You’re extra cute when you get all fierce like that.”

“I’m serious, though. I don’t want you like, following him around town or breaking his tail lights or stuff.”

He nodded. “I promise not to harass him on your behalf.”

“Thank you.”

“But you are going to take my card,” he fished one out of the pocket on his shirt, “and call this number if he shows up here again to bug you. Alright?”

“Chris…”

“I can show up in uniform and he’ll think its official, even if I’m just here as a friend.”

She toyed with the almost white threads fraying at the bottom of her cut-offs. “You think he’ll back off if you do?”

“I hope so.”

She took the card from him and read it. “What’s the R stand for?”

“Robert.”

She scraped her teeth over her upper lip again. “I’ll call you if he shows up.”

“Thank you.” He stood and Bandit shot to his feet. “Now, I should let you get some sleep because you’re exhausted from a long day and I have to be on duty at eight.”

“Of course.”

“Would you let me come by tomorrow evening and take you out to dinner?”

“Are you going to drive the police car?”

“No.”

“Then yes.”

And she thought his smile had been attractive before. Now he was beaming.

“I’ll pick you up at six and I’ll take you to my favorite place. Don’t dress up, though. It’s not fancy.”

“Alright. I’ll see you then.”

He picked up his shirt and slung his belt over his shoulder. “I’d volunteer to carry you to bed, but I’d rather you lock the door behind me.”

Riley pushed herself up to a stand. “You’re very conscientious, Officer.”

“Chris.”

Riley hoped she would get used to the melty voice eventually, and it would lose its power over her. Until then, her breath shook in her lungs. “Chris.”

She followed him over to the door. As soon as he opened it, Bandit shot out and ran for the car. Chris paused on the threshold. He lifted a hand to her face and cupped her cheek. “Until tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.”

He dropped his hand from her face and then slowly lifted it again. His thumb dragged at her full bottom lip as he stared at her mouth. “Between my teeth,” he whispered.

Riley shivered again and Chris shook himself like a dog shedding water. He gave her one more big smile. “Good night, Riley.”

“Good night, Chris.”

She shut the door and locked it before limping to her bedroom. Tonight, at least, she was going to sleep without a gun under her pillow. It would be a welcome change.


	4. Chapter 4

Riley buckled her seatbelt as Chris turned on the engine. “So, this your truck or did you borrow it from your daddy?”

“It’s mine.”

She nodded slowly. “Didn’t picture you as a cherry-red kind of guy.”

“This is technically called vermillion.”

Riley dissolved into laughter. “You have a cherry-red pickup truck. And it’s sparkly.”

“It’s metallic.”

“It’s a red glitter truck,” she laughed again. “At least it’s a Ford.”

“You’re a Ford girl?”

“Of course.”

“Well, that’s one hurdle cleared.”

She looked into the back of the crew cab. There were two coolers and some blankets. “No Bandit this time?”

“No, Bandit’s at home. I don’t want him stealing any cuddles you may feel inclined on bestowing tonight.”

She shifted so she was angled across her seat and could watch his face. “Jealous of a dog, Officer? That’s pretty sad.”

He just smiled in response. “It may be, but that’s the way it goes. Besides, I got him a new Kong and stuffed it with his favorite treats. He’s happy.”

“So where are you taking me?” He had headed away from town.

“To my favorite place to eat supper.”

“Where’s that?”

“Wait and see.”

She turned on the radio and punched through his pre-sets. “You’ve got pretty good taste in music.”

“I’m glad you approve.”

She pushed the first button, taking it back to her favorite station, and let her hand drop onto the center console. A few seconds later his hand covered hers long enough to turn it on its side so he could slide his fingers in between her smaller ones.

“Now tell me, Riley. What did you get up to today?”

“I had class this morning, and then I spent my afternoon studying and doing homework, and then I came home and got ready for our date.”

“I thought you said you dropped out of university.”

Riley was impressed with his memory. She was also impressed that she didn’t feel like a suspect being questioned, but like he was genuinely interested in her. “I went back. I’m not going to sit around here waiting for another Colt.”

“What are you studying?”

“Geography. Focusing on GIS. It’s a mapping software program. It’s supposed to be a highly marketable skill once I graduate.”

“And when’s that going to be?”

“I’m only taking nine credits a semester, so two more years.”

“And then you’re going to run away to the big city?”

Riley wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “I hope not. I’d like to find someplace close. Like Fish and Wildlife or the state parks or something. Make them maps of where all the endangered animals are or something.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “So we can shoot them easier?”

“No! I don’t have problems with hunting or fishing, but there’s enough deer running around all over that you don’t need to be tramping through one of the last stands of Tennessee yellow-eyed grass to shoot them.”

“Didn’t much take you as a hippie.”

Riley sat up straighter in her seat. She couldn’t read him well enough yet to know how much of him was teasing her, and how much was being serious. It wasn’t like she hadn’t had this conversation before. “God spent as long making flowers as he did making humans, so I think maybe we should respect that and stop destroying everything He made.”

“Christian hippie. That’s new to me.”

She yanked her hand away from him. “I’m not a hippie. And I don’t care if you think God created the world in seven twenty-four hour days or if you believe in evolution and the universe being 13.8 billion years old. Thinking you’re the only thing of importance on the planet is like being a high school quarterback. But the world does not revolve around you, and other things have a right to a life and a space of their own without you trampling all over it.”

“Right. Sorry. I obviously hit a sore spot. I promise not to trample on any Tennessee… what did you call it?”

“Tennessee yellow-eyed grass.”

“Right. I won’t trample on any Tennessee yellow-eyed grass.”

“Good.”

He reached over and took her hand again. “I won’t trample on you either, Riley.”

She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes and blushed and turned her head to look out the window. His thumb stroked over the back of her hand.

“Was Colt released today?”

“His arraignment was scheduled for this afternoon. We found enough meth in his car that the DA added intent to sale.”

Well that sounded promising. “Does that mean he’s still in jail?”

“Probably not, though the judge does have the discretion to hold him without bail if he thinks he’s a flight risk. He has enough ties to the community though, that at the most I would expect he had to surrender his passport.”

Her hopes sank and she slouched in her seat. “So he’s out.”

“Probably.”

Her breath was shaky as she thought about that. Out of jail and pissed. Not a good look on a nicer man than Colt, and definitely not one she ever wanted to see on him.

“Riley?” She didn’t respond. He squeezed her hand. “Riley, can you look at me?”

She slowly turned her head.

“I’m going to keep you safe.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“But if he shows up at your house?” He looked at her in concern for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road.

“I’ll call you,” she said softly.

“Good girl.”

Riley went back to staring out the side window. Chris turned off the main road and she squinted at him. “Are we heading to the lake?”

“Yes, ma’am. I have a favorite spot out there I’d like to show you.”

She turned around and looked at the coolers again. “And is one of those full of beer? Are you planning on trying to get me drunk and frisky?”

“No, ma’am. That’s supper. I’m going to earn my first kiss from you with nothing but sweet tea and charm.”

Her mouth opened and closed so many times she felt like a fish. “You sound very confident in yourself.”

“I can be quite charming when the situation calls for it.”

“I’m more interested in what you’re like the rest of the time.”

“You will always call for charm, Riley.”

Charming bastard. “I may always call for it, but I know I don’t always get what I deserve. Are you an angry drunk? Do you throw things when Bama loses? Not a morning person? Why did your last girlfriend dump you?”

“What makes you think she dumped me?”

“Intuition.”

He was quiet for long enough that she thought she had offended him. “She couldn’t deal with the crazy hours of being a cop, or worrying every time I left for work that I was going to get killed. I was dating her when I got shot.”

“Oh. Well, I can see that being an eye-opener.”

“I told her it was just a graze, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. We broke up about a month later.”

“That scar didn’t look particularly new.”

“It’s not. She sort of put me off dating for a bit.”

“How long?”

“Until about yesterday.” He winked at her and Riley giggled. She actually giggled and then she put her hand over her face as she blushed bright red.

“You make me feel fourteen again,” she admitted.

He lifted their joined hands to his mouth and kissed the back of hers. “As for the rest of it, I’m not a morning person but that’s why God made coffee. The Tide does not lose, so you don’t have to worry about that part, and if, by some weird set of circumstances they did, the most I would do is yell at the television a bit. I tend to be a fun drunk. Sing loudly and become friends with everyone. If I’m having a bad day, I’ve got a punching bag or I’ll take Bandit out for a run. I try and leave work at work, I open doors for ladies, and I think the first day of hunting season should be a national holiday. The last time I punched a man was when I was in college and he kept harassing the woman I was hitting on.”

She eyed him skeptically. “You’re too perfect. What did you do that drove your ex crazy? Besides being a cop.”

“I leave wet towels on the floor. I buy big packages of paper plates at Sam’s, the nice thick ones, not the cheap stuff, so I don’t have to do dishes. I squeeze the toothpaste in the middle. I leave the laundry in the basket rather than fold it and put it away. I share food with Bandit. And I could never remember her favorite flavor of ice cream.”

“Well, some of those are worse than others, but none of that makes me run screaming in the other direction.”

“I’m not a bad guy, Riley.”

He turned off the road onto a dirt track saving Riley from having to answer. She watched the terrain change into forest as they climbed. She’d never gone to this lake this way but she was familiar enough with it that they were going to come out on the bluffs overlooking the lake, and eventually they did. The trees gave way to a clearing as the soil disappeared and rock took over. Chris turned the truck around and parked.

Riley waited for him to come open her door and when he did, he grabbed her waist and swung her down from the cab. She could feel the heat climbing her neck again as his biceps moved under her hands.

“Did I already tell you how beautiful you look?”

And there went all possibility of controlling her blush. She shook her head.

He tipped her face up so she was looking at him. “Well, Blue, you look beautiful. The sundress with boots is a particular weakness of mine.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, let’s eat.” He led her around to the back of the truck and pulled down the tailgate.

She took one look and folded her arms over her chest. “Christopher Robert, there is a mattress in your truck bed.”

“Just for sitting. Metal isn’t as comfortable to sit on as it was when I was young.”

She snorted. “You don’t exactly look old and decrepit.”

He grabbed her waist and boosted her onto the tailgate. “You go get yourself comfortable while I get the coolers out of the cab.”

She appreciated his politeness at letting her crawl into the truck bed without worrying if he could see up her dress and by the time he carried the first cooler around she had seated herself against the back of the cab with her legs stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankle. He brought the second cooler around and then, with one hand on the side of the truck bed, leapt up to join her.

“So, I didn’t know what you liked to eat, so I brought a variety of options. Fried chicken,” he pulled out a container and set it next to her, “potato salad, biscuits,”

Riley knew those biscuits. Those perfect flaky golden biscuits. “You went to Norma’s, didn’t you?”

He laughed and kept pulling out containers of food. “Guilty as charged.”

“Please tell me there’s a slice of mud cake in one of those coolers somewhere.”

“There are two because if you wanted it, I didn’t want to have to beg you to share.”

She let out a happy sigh. “You are a good man.”

He stopped unpacking the feast and touched her cheek. “I told you.” How did he go from goofball to sincere like that? Laughter to mush faster than a NASCAR driver getting off the starting line. She nodded slowly and he went back to unpacking. “There’s also some chess pie in here.”

“You’re going to have to roll me out of this truck bed when we’re done eating.”

Another container came out of the cooler. “Green tomato fritters.”

“Did you just walk in there and order one of everything on the menu?”

“Not everything. And two of some things. I did just stay with the fried chicken for this time. I figure next time we’ll do ribs.”

“There’s going to be a next time?”

“I sure hope so.”

Riley split open one of the biscuits to hide her smile. “Honey butter?”

He opened the other cooler and handed her a plastic container. “I’ve got a knife around here somewhere. And plates.”

They spent the next hour laughing and eating and watching the sun set over the lake. Riley amused herself by licking her fingers to make Chris lose his train of thought.

“You have any room in there for mud cake?”

Riley groaned and hugged her stomach. “I think I’m going to have to wait for this to settle a bit first.”

Chris packed the leftovers back into the cooler and refilled their glasses with sweet tea.

“Do you come up here often?” she asked.

“When I need some quiet. This is my get away from the world spot.”

“I’m usually over on the other side of the lake. But then, I haven’t come to the lake for quiet in a long time.”

“Where do you go for quiet?”

She thought for a moment and then shook her head. “I don’t know anymore. Between school and working, I don’t really have time for it.”

“You can use this spot.”

“That’s nice, but I don’t think my little car would survive that trail we came in on.”

“I’ll take you up here whenever you want.”

“Do you think we could be comfortably silent together? That’s a tall order for most couples.”

He moved so he was sitting next to her, leaning up against the back of the cab, and took her hand. “Want to find out?”

“Just sit here and be quiet?”

He nodded. “Watch the stars come out with me.”

“Okay.”

It was silent, except for the sound of a breeze blowing through the trees and the sound of the lake lapping at the rocks far below. The stars appeared one at a time, and sometimes two, as the sky deepened from lilac to indigo. Riley looked down at their joined hands, lying against the mattress between their thighs, and then back up at the sky.  She crossed her arm across her chest, partially for warmth, but also to let her fingers brush against his arm. It was the most peaceful she’d felt in years.

The cold eventually overcame her efforts to ignore it and she shivered.

“You getting cold?”

“I left my jacket in the cab.”

“I’ve got something better.” He slid open the window to the cab and reached through and pulled the blankets out. Riley looked at him askance. “I promise I’m not trying anything.”

“Next you’re going to ask me if I want to lie down.”

He grinned hopefully. “No crick in the neck that way.”

She squinted at him in the darkness. “I’m going to trust you, Christopher Robert.”

“I’m glad.”

It took some maneuvering but they both got stretched out on the mattress, lying next to each other, under the blankets. Chris found her hand and held it again. She was warm and full and at peace.

Riley had no idea what time it was when she opened her eyes. The stars had shifted overhead. She rolled her head to the side to find Chris watching her with a gentle smile that she hadn’t seen before.

“I’m so sorry. That was unforgivably rude of me.”

“No, no it wasn’t. I think it means that we passed the comfortably silent together test, though.”

She put her hand over her face. “How long was I out?”

“About an hour.”

“And you just laid there watching me the whole time?” She must have just topped his list of most boring dates ever.

“I watched the stars some, too.”

“I’m so sorry I fell asleep.

“Don’t worry about it. It just gives me a glimpse of the future.”

“Me falling asleep all the time because I’m so tired?” It was probably a fairly accurate view of the future.

“You waking up next to me.”

She gnawed on her upper lip. Was that the reason for that unfamiliar smile? It didn’t look like any naughty thoughts face she’d seen on a man before, but she had already discovered that Chris was not like the men she had known. “Is that why you’ve got that expression on your face? Because you’re thinking about us in bed together?”

“I’m thinking that I really want to kiss you right now but I promised I wouldn’t try anything so I won’t.”

It took Riley a moment to find her voice. “I, um, I think I would like you to kiss me.”

“Right now?”

“Mmhmm.”

He let go of her hand and scooted closer. His fingers smoothed over her hair that had been disturbed by her sleeping and tucked it back behind her ear. His hand stayed there, fingers curving around her jaw and the back of her neck. “You sure about this?”

She nodded slowly, watching his face come closer. Watching his lips come closer. She held her breath, and as his face brushed against hers, she could feel that he was holding his as well. His eyes were open, watching her, and as she looked up at him, he closed the final distance.

It wasn’t fair, Riley decided much later, that such a nice, handsome, wonderful man should also be such a good kisser. He was too perfect, and too nice about it to even hate him for being perfect. He was a good kisser in the same way that Van Gogh was a good artist and Beethoven a good musician. His lips were soft and his hand was gentle on her face and the way his mouth moved on hers made it obvious that he was thinking about nothing except this one kiss. No teeth, no tongue, nothing except his full lips and the feel of his breath and the way his hand tightened a small amount on her face. She leaned into him as he pulled back and her eyes slowly opened.

His eyes moved from looking at hers to her lips and back to her eyes again and his fingers trailed softly against her throat as he let go of her face. “Feel like that piece of mud cake now?” His voice was deeper than before, and rougher, like a cat’s tongue against her skin.

Riley bit her top lip for a moment, and then nodded. She blinked a few times, trying to get the world to settle back into its accustomed place, but everything had changed. Her life had skewed a few inches to the left, and would never be quite the same again.

They each wrapped themselves in a blanket and they ate cake and talked more. He didn’t try to touch her again and she kept herself from touching him either. Not with a mattress right there. Once they were back in the cab they held hands for the drive home.

“What are you doing tomorrow, Blue?” he asked as he walked her to her door.

“Working until about three, and then homework.”

“You think you might have time to go watch a movie with me tomorrow night? If you get all your studying done?”

She unlocked the door and then turned to look up at him. “I think I just might.”

He leaned in, placing a hand on the door. “Can I kiss you goodnight?”

She nodded, feeling the smile she couldn’t stop from appearing curving her mouth.

This kiss was as perfect as the first one. Just as sweet but more intense. His hand in her hair was joined by his other one sliding down her back and coming to a rest right on her waist and she leaned into him, resting her hands on his chest as he coaxed her lips open just a touch more. He kissed like she was fragile, like something precious that should be in a museum and touched only by people who were experts while wearing gloves, but underneath that, underneath her hands she could feel the tension in his muscles, the restraint of not pushing her up against the door or pulling her against his body. He kissed her like there was nothing else he would rather be doing in the world, and she memorized the feel of his heart beat under her hand, and the scent of his cologne and the way his hand fit on the small of her back.

Eventually this kiss ended as well. “I’m going to stand here until I hear that door lock,” he said, his face just an inch from hers.

“Yes, Officer.”

He grinned at her. “You’re a little smart-ass, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know about little.” She smacked a hand against her bum, and the sound cracked through the silence.

He closed his eyes and pressed his fist to his mouth to keep his response from coming out. Riley giggled and opened the door. “Goodnight, Chris.”

“Goodnight, Riley.” His eyes were still closed.

She giggled again and shut the door and locked it.


	5. Chapter 5

Chris insisted on following Riley out to her garden and carrying the watermelon back into the house. He placed the heavy green sphere on the counter. “Why’d you get a new back door?”

“What?”

“The back door is new. Considering the only other change you’ve made is removing the plastic slip covers, I was just wondering why you would replace a door?”

“It needed to be replaced.”

“Why?” He rubbed his hand up and down the door jamb that was a slightly different color than the rest of the door frame.

“It just did, okay?” She tied on a faded floral apron in case the watermelon decided to fight back when she cut into it.

“Who broke in, Riley?”

Riley’s hand froze for a moment before she finished straightening the bow so it would look pretty. “Can’t you just turn off your cop vision for the afternoon?

“I really can’t. Who broke in? Was it Colt?”

“No. Colt’s never done something like that.”

“Does it have to do with Colt?”

Riley didn’t answer. She pulled out her big butcher knife and started slicing the watermelon into wedges.

“I can just look up the police report down at the station.”

She still didn’t answer.

Chris nodded. “You didn’t call it in. Who are you protecting, Riley?”

Her voice was soft when she finally answered. “Myself. I’m protecting myself.”

Chris leaned against the kitchen counter and placed his hand carefully over hers. He took the knife away and put it in the sink. “What happened, Blue?”

“I promised I wouldn’t report it.” She picked up a wedge of melon and began flicking out the seeds.

“Then just tell Chris. I’m not a cop right now. Just your boyfriend.”

“You’re my boyfriend?”

“I was going to talk to you about that later, but I feel like we’re heading that way.”

Riley turned and rested her forehead against Chris’s shoulder and he pulled her into an embrace. His hand slowly stroked up and down her back and he pressed a kiss to her hair.

“It was back when Colt and I were engaged. We came home from the movies and the back door was busted open. That was the only damage I noticed. The television was still there, my laptop was on the couch, I couldn’t figure out why someone would have broken in and not taken anything. I was about to go check my grandma’s jewelry box when Colt went racing down into the cellar and started hollering.” She rubbed nervously at her mouth. “Apparently he had been selling coke with some friends of his and he decided to cut them out of the profits, and he’d been storing it down in my cellar. I thought he was just being so nice about doing the laundry but it was because he didn’t want me down there to see what he was doing. I was so mad but he said if I told that I’d get arrested too since it was my house and that his friends would come after me if I turned them in. So I didn’t. I got the door replaced and had the guy change the lock on the front door as well, and kicked Colt out as soon as that was done.”

He let go of Riley. “Come here, Bandit.” The dog got up from where it was laying in the living room and padded into the kitchen. “Let’s go, boy.”

Her heart sank and she blinked several times. “You’re leaving?”

“No, we’re going downstairs to make sure Colt and his friends didn’t leave anything behind.”

“What if they did?”

“We’ll deal with that if it’s necessary.”

She grabbed Bandit’s collar and held him still. “Maybe I don’t want you going down there, then. You said you weren’t a cop, you were just Chris, and now you’re looking for drugs and I don’t want to get arrested.”

“I’m not going to arrest you.”

“If I wasn’t your girlfriend, and you found drugs in my house and I told you the story I just told you, would you arrest me?”

“Possibly. If I thought you were lying. Considering Colt has already been arrested for possession and intent to sell, I’d probably give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Riley let go of Bandit’s collar and sank to the floor next to him. She petted him fretfully and he nosed her face. “And if you find a box of cocaine or something down there, what are you going to do with it? It’s not like you can just take it to work with you tomorrow.”

Chris squatted in front of her. “I’d flush it.”

“I don’t want you destroying evidence for me!”

“It’s only evidence if there’s a crime, and since you’re refusing to report it, then there isn’t a crime.”

She gave him the side-eye. “Somehow I don’t think a judge is going to buy that line of reasoning.”

“Then what do you want me to do, Riley? I’m worried that if he has left something down there, that he’s going to use it to get back at you.”

“Can’t he just stop messing up my life?”

Chris stroked her hair, much like she was petting Bandit. “Let me fix this. Let me have Bandit search your home. That way we know you’re clean.”

“And if I’m not? If there’s other stuff that I haven’t found yet?”

“Can you trust me?”

 “I’m not letting you destroy evidence. You are not going to put your career at risk for me.” She poked him in the chest.

He sat on the linoleum with her. “Will you let me call another officer to come search with me? That way if we find something, he can take it in.”

“Won’t he arrest me?”

Chris took her hand, the one that wasn’t buried in Bandit’s fur. “You tell him what you told me. It’s obvious there was a burglary. You didn’t report it at the time because you were concerned for your safety. He brought drugs into the house again. You want to make sure he didn’t leave anything when you kicked him out.”

“What if his friends come after me?” she asked the top of Bandit’s head.

“I will keep you safe.”

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and reproachful. “You can’t promise that, Chris. You’re not the one who lives here. I’m the one who lives here and sleeps here and worries about every sound I hear at night.”

“If you haven’t told anyone, why are you so scared?”

She hesitated before she answered. “Because,” she took a quick breath, “they still know where I live. What’s to keep them from coming back?”

“They didn’t steal anything from you. With Colt gone they don’t have a reason to bother you again.”

“But if I tell the other officer,”

Chris squeezed her hand. “Riley, why are you scared every night?”

Her knuckles went white in Bandit’s black fur. “He left a note on my porch sometime in the night.”

“Colt did?”

She nodded.

“Where is it?”

“I threw it in the garbage.”

He got up and fished the crumpled paper out of the garbage can under the sink.  _You can tell me we’re over, but I saw you at the movies last night wearing the boots I bought you. I know you still love me, baby doll. Why are you flirting with that cop? You know you’re too much of a bad girl to be satisfied by a Dudley Doright like that. Come on, baby. I know I made you mad, but getting me arrested is going too far. Call off the cops or there’s gonna be consequences._

“Riley, what does he mean by consequences?”

“I don’t know.”

“Has he physically assaulted you before?”

“No. He’s a gentleman.”

Chris snorted. “This is going into evidence.”

“No!” She grabbed for the note but he held it out of reach.

“He’s threatening you.”

“He’s left notes like that before and never done anything.”

“Do you have the others?”

She shook her head. “I just throw ‘em away.”

Chris leaned back against the counter and read through the note again as he rubbed his chin. “Here’s what I’d like to do. I’d like to call my friend and have him come sweep your house with me. If we don’t find anything, it ends there. If we do find something, my friend will take it in, along with a statement from you about what had happened with the break in.”

Riley thought for a moment and then nodded. “And that note?”

He handed it to her. “You’ll put it someplace safe in case something happens and we need it in the future.”

“Thank you for not pushing this.”

“I recognize the sight of a girl with her heels dug in. I respect that. It’s not how I would handle it, but if that’s what you want to do, I’ll follow your lead.” He cupped her cheek and tilted her face up so they were looking right at each other. “Just promise me, Blue, that you’ll at least _think_  about getting a restraining order. This kind of stuff,” he tapped the note she had in a death grip, “rarely stops on its own.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you. Now, you finish cutting up that watermelon. I’m going to call Jackson.”

>< 

Chris found Riley hugging her knees to her chest on an old garden swing out in the back of her yard. She was dappled with sunlight that made its way through the branches of the old tree that arched protectively over her. He sat down next to her and rested his arm on the swing behind her.

“Didja find anything?”

“No, ma’am.”

“So, I don’t have to give a statement or anything?”

“No. I would like to have one on record just for safety, but no.”

She turned her head to the side so she could see him, leaving her cheek on her kneecap. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”

“Just doing my duty.”

Her nose wrinkled. She didn’t like being a duty. “As a cop?”

He twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. “I think this was more as your boyfriend. You never did say whether or not you were okay with us taking that step.”

Riley got a small smile on her face at that and sat up, crossing her legs at the ankle and wiggling her toes in the sunshine. “Are you sure that you want to be my boyfriend? Seems like a cop wouldn’t want to hassle with all this on his time off.”

Chris’s smile quirked and he dropped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her closer. “I would very much like to hassle with you,” he murmured.

Riley had no idea how his smile could go from a sweet little puppy to a sex god so quickly, and there was his grilled cheese voice again. The thought of him hassleing with her made her break out in gooseflesh. Her eyes dropped to his lips for a moment and she licked hers before looking back up at him. “So, if I say yes that I’ll be your girlfriend, does that mean you’ll finally bite my bottom lip like you promised that first night?”

Chris let out a gust of air like he’d just been sucker punched and then leaned in even more. “You want me to take that sweet pouty lip between my teeth, Riley?”

She could feel his breath against her lips. “I wish you would. I laid awake in bed last night wondering why you hadn’t done it already.”

His fingers dug into her shoulder for a moment before he consciously relaxed each one. “Are you telling me you think about me in bed?”

She turned so she was facing him square on and delicately stroked the skin revealed by the first few buttons on his Henley being undone with a single fingertip. Her eyes stayed fixed on his face. “I think that’s what I just told you.”

Riley could hear the soft groan echo deep in his chest right before he kissed her. She wasn’t sure what to expect. Last night he’d been so respectful at the movies, doing no more than holding her hand, and his goodnight kiss had left her breathless and tingly and with nipples begging for his hands and mouth, and he’d barely even used any tongue. She figured this time she had him riled up enough that his iron-clad control might slip just a bit. Enough at least for a bite.

He picked up right where he’d left off last night. His fingers slid into her hair as he nudged her mouth open enough from him to be able to taste her. Riley smiled against his mouth and his other hand dropped from her shoulder to her back, pulling her closer to him. She happily complied with his guidance, sliding her arms around his shoulders and getting as close as possible.

Chris kept kissing her, feeling the way she went boneless and moldable in his arms, and the way her lips softened even as they took his breath away. His hand slowly slid from her back down to her ass and grabbed a handful. Her moan vibrated against his lips and she squirmed under his touch, not trying to get away from his hand, but to position it right where she wanted it. He kneaded her bum as his other hand tightened in her hair. She flicked her tongue against his upper lip and he seized her bottom one in his teeth. He suckled for a moment and then tugged, letting the succulent flesh scrape between his teeth as he slowly let it go.

Her breath came out in a series of tiny sighs until her lip finally dropped from his clutch. It wasn’t just gooseflesh anymore. She shuddered, the spill of sensation so intense her entire body had to react. Her eyes were wide open as she stared at him in a mixture of surprise and lust, and she panted twice before she crashed her mouth back into his. Chris groaned as their lips met again. His hand tightened on her ass and she crawled into his lap, straddling his thighs, setting the swing to rocking.

Chris grabbed Riley’s hips and pulled her up from where she was settling against him and held her so that she wasn’t touching him. “You think this is such a good idea, precious?”

“It’s more comfortable this way,” she murmured as she kissed along his jaw. “We’re not twisting to face each other.”

He slid his hands up the back of her thighs, coming to a stop as his thumbs slipped under the hem of her shorts and rubbed against the curve of her ass. She slowly slid down until she was sitting on his lap again. “No squirming about, Blue.”

She chuckled against his throat and kissed the sensitive skin. He shuddered from the flick of her tongue and Riley smiled. “Just keep the swing rocking,” she whispered. Chris pushed against the ground with one foot and the swing moved. Their bodies moved as well, shifting instinctively with the change in the angle of their seat. Chris groaned deep in his throat as it caused them to rub against each other, from the feel of her breasts against his shirt to the drag of the seam of her shorts right against the fly of his jeans.

Chris made himself let go of her ass, not trusting himself to keep from violating his ‘no squirming’ rule, but kept the swing slowly moving as they continued to kiss. He settled his hands on her waist, pulling up her shirt enough that he could feel her skin. She discovered how sensitive his ears are and traced them with her tongue and nipped at his earlobes. He found the spot where her throat gave way to her shoulder that made her sigh all soft and melty in his arms and visited it frequently. Her bottom lip regularly found itself between his teeth.

Riley could have happily spent the rest of the day right there on that swing getting kissed by him and kissing him in return. It was like taking a nap in a puddle of sunshine, except for the ache that continued to grow between her legs as they swung together. Chris’s hands started to move in time with the hypnotic back and forth, sliding further up her sides with each rotation and Riley couldn’t help but begin to grind against him the tiniest bit. She needed more than what she was getting from the swing. She needed more of him.

When he let go of her bottom lip this time she dropped her head onto his shoulder and tried to force her breathing to steady. Chris’s head dropped back and she could hear him fighting the same war against his lungs. His arms tightened around her waist and he squeezed before relaxing into a more comfortable embrace.

Eventually Riley lifted her head. “We can still probably watch the last quarter.”

“And there is that watermelon we need to eat.”

Riley carefully climbed off his lap and held out her hands to him. He took them and she pulled him to his feet. He followed her back into the house, pausing only to rub his thumb over the tool marks on the door jamb that she hadn’t managed to completely eradicate when she had replaced the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Riley stood in the dark of her living room and watched the truck parked across the street. This was her third trek into the living room to see if it was still there. The black Dodge had been there for hours now, and the only way she could tell that the occupant was still there was the glowing end of a cigarette flaring into life periodically. Finally, a few minutes before midnight, she dialed Chris. They hadn’t seen each other for four days now. He’d been moved to a four-to-midnight schedule for a few weeks, and with her working mornings and going to school, they had been settling for phone calls.

“Hey, Blue. Shouldn’t you be sleeping right about now?”

“I can’t sleep.”

His chuckle was slow and deep. “You been thinking about me again?”

She hugged herself tight and stared out the window, watching the cigarette arc through the darkness like a meteorite as he flicked it out the window. It exploded into a splash of sparks as it hit the asphalt. “Colt’s been sitting in his truck outside my house for hours now drinking and smoking and I don’t feel safe.”

The sound of his sirens came through the line. “I’ll be right over.”

“You’re all the way on the other side of the town. You tell whoever you have patrolling my street to come by with some lights on or something.”

“What makes you think I have someone patrolling your street?”

She rolled her eyes. “Because as I’ve been watching this truck sitting there, I’ve also watched a cop car driving by on a much more regular basis than I remember seeing them ever before.” He chuckled, but this time he sounded guilty. He was going to have to learn that she wasn’t born yesterday.

“You caught me. I’ve had Jackson keeping an eye on you, but shifts change in a few minutes. Let me take care of Colt so Jackson doesn’t have to work overtime and can go home to his wife.”

“I know you’re playing on my hatred of inconveniencing people, and I don’t like being manipulated like that, but I’ll let you take care of it as long as you promise that you two are not gonna get into a pissing match.”

“Of course. I’m just coming over to give my girl a kiss goodnight.”

“And turn off your sirens. The neighbors are sleeping and I’d like that to continue.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She hung up the phone and went back to watching the truck. Without the cigarette she could barely even tell he was there. He’d parked between the two closest streetlamps in the darkest spot possible. There was just enough moonlight that she could see that he was resting his arm in the open window, but not enough to see if he was looking at the house or not. She slipped her phone in the pocket of her robe and pulled it tighter around herself and waited.

The minutes were agonizingly long but finally Chris pulled up in his cruiser and parked in front of her house. Bandit let himself out of the car, shut the door behind him, and came bounding up to the porch. Chris wasn’t far behind. Riley watched in resignation as the door to Colt’s truck opened and he followed along. It looked like her porch was quite the place to be this evening.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” Colt shouted.

Chris slowly turned around on the brick walk leading up to her house and Bandit ran back to sit at his side. “I’m here on a social call.”

“You’re not wanted around here, Occifer.”

“I don’t think that’s your determination to make, sir, unless you live here. Do you live here, sir?”

Riley rubbed her forehead and sighed. This was not going well. She shouldn’t have called Chris at all. She should have waited until he was off shift and just called 911. Not that it was an emergency, though. Was what he doing even illegal? He was just sitting in his truck and drinking. Chris asking her to get a restraining order made more sense in the dark with the rat bastard drunk on her front lawn and yelling at a police officer. She tugged her robe shut and retied the belt before flipping on the porch light and opening the front door. “Colt, go home.”

“What’s this police officer doing at your house in the middle of the night, Riley?”

“It’s none of your business. Nothing I do is your business anymore.”

“Are you still mad at me? Eight months of you having your panties in a twist is starting to get old. What do I need to convince you to forgive me once and for all?”

“Colt. Get it through your numbskull head. We are never getting back together. I gave you back the ring. I changed the locks. How many times did you get tackled on your head that you cannot understand that?”

He shoved his thumbs in his pockets and swayed back and forth on his heels. “If you were really over me, you wouldn’t still wear the boots I got you.” He gave her a leering smile.

“Is that what this is about? You want the boots back?”

“I don’t want them back, baby. I want to give you the chance to earn some more.”

Riley squinted at him in confusion. “Earn? I thought they were gifts from you.”

“Nah, baby. Didn’t you notice every time you went down on me I took you shopping the next day?” He may have been talking to her but he was grinning at Chris.

Riley squawked and then her mouth fell open. She slapped a hand over her face before she could let loose the words that were boiling up in her gut and she spun on her heel and stomped back into the house. Colt and Chris waited to see what she was going to do. The open door gaped like a cave opening in the dark. They heard her before they saw her. She came stomping back out the door, her arms loaded with cowboy boots. She kept stomping, right past the boys and out of her yard. One of the boots slipped from her grasp and Bandit darted forward and grabbed it and trotted after her. She dumped the boots in the back of Colt’s truck, took the one from Bandit and threw it in on top. With a glare on her face that left both Colt and Chris silent she stomped back into the house.

Chris was wondering how many more pairs of boots she had to go get. He was not prepared for her to come stomping back out on her porch with a shotgun. The sound of the fore-action being worked was scarily loud.

“Colt Montgomery Thompson, get the hell off my lawn. Stay away from me. Stay away from my house. If you set foot in my house again I will shoot you.”

“Babe, you don’t mean that.”

He took a step towards her but halted when she aimed the gun at his chest. “I swear, Colt. You’ve seen me use this. I never want to see you again. Now get the hell off my lawn before I call your momma and tell her that you’re running drugs.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Riley tucked the butt of the gun into her shoulder and reached into her pocket for her phone. She started dialing. It took three beeps to get Colt to back up.

“Fine. I’ll go.”

“Actually,” Chris finally stepped in, “you’re too intoxicated to drive legally. Do you have someone who can come get you or would you like me to call you a cab?”

“I don’t need your help,” he muttered and tried to stomp back to his truck, but it was more of an angry stagger, with him swearing colorfully at the uncooperative ground periodically. He leaned against the door and Riley could see the rectangle of light in his hand meaning he was calling someone.

She worked the action again and ejected the shell. “You,” she looked at Chris, “can sit out here and make sure he leaves.”

“Don’t I even get a kiss?”

She bent and picked up the shell and put it in her pocket. “Not right now. I’m mad at you for being manipulative. But you come in here after he’s gone and tell me how to file a restraining order. I think you’re right about me needing one.”

“Will do. And Riley? I’m sorry.” His smile seemed sincere but right now she didn’t care.

She huffed and went back in the house. As much as she wanted to slam it, she didn’t. It latched quietly and she leaned against it for a moment. She was furious at Colt, embarrassed by what he’d revealed, mad at Chris for messing with her and at for being there to witness the whole fiasco, and grieving the loss of all of her boots. She’d loved her boots, all nine pairs. The next pair, she determined, she would buy herself, and stupid boys could all go take a long walk off a short pier.


	7. Chapter 7

Riley put on a t-shirt and sweat pants before curling up on her sofa and staring out the window. Chris leaned against his cruiser. Colt leaned against his truck. They two were glaring at each other like they were in some High Noon showdown. At least they didn’t seem to be talking. Finally, Garrett pulled up in his truck and his little brother hopped down. Colt climbed in and Tucker climbed into Colt’s truck. Thirty seconds later and they were all gone.

Chris knocked on the front door before opening it. “Riley? Is it okay if I come in?”

“Yeah.”

He turned on the light as he came into the living room. Bandit got to her before Chris did and she scratched him behind both ears. “Guess what? I got you a water bowl and some doggy treats today.” She went into the kitchen and Bandit followed her, stopping long enough to get a drink, and then took the treat out of her hand.  She petted his head as he crunched away. “Give me another week or so and I’ll get you your own food dish too, boy.”

“You know you don’t have to do all this for him.”

She didn’t look at him, still loving on Bandit. “It’s nice having a dog around again.”

“Did you used to have a dog?”

“Growing up. There was always at least one dog. Coonhounds though, not a German Shepherd.” She patted Bandit again. “Makes a house feel like a home to have a dog around.”

“You should get one.”

“I don’t have the time to be a good dog owner. It’s not like I can take mine to work with me like you can.”

“Is there a reason you’re staying way over there?” He’d stopped in the living room and she was lurking in the doorway to the kitchen.

“Take off your gun belt.”

Chris grinned and took it off and hung it over the back of the arm chair. Before she could say anything else he took off his shirt as well, leaving him in a black t-shirt and his work pants. “Better?”

She nodded. Chris opened his arms but she didn’t move. “I hate him, and I hate myself for ever having loved him. I just feel so humiliated right now.”

Chris walked over to her. “You don’t need to be embarrassed, Riley.”

“I just wish I hadn’t called you. I should have handled it myself.”

He tilted her face up so he could see into her eyes. “No, you shouldn’t have.”

“You didn’t do anything. You just made him mad.”

“And what would you have done? Not slept at all until he left? Gone out there and confronted him with a shotgun? And by the way, no more aiming shotguns at people.”

“I’ll aim a shotgun at whomever I choose, Christopher.”

“If you shoot someone in front of me, I will arrest you, Blue.”

She had no intention of shooting anyone, but she didn’t need him bossing her around right now. “It’s self-defense.”

“Only if he’s in the house.”

“Well, I’ll make sure to invite him in then.” Her hair bobbed in time with the angry movement of her head. She didn’t need him teaching her grandma to suck eggs.

“Riley!”

Her eyes widened at the sharp rebuke. “What?”

He grabbed the point of her chin and gently held it so she was looking at him. “You are not inviting Colt into your house so you can shoot him.”

She smacked his hand away. “Do you think I’m stupid? I wouldn’t actually do that.  But if he breaks in, or any of his friends, I  _will_  shoot them if I have to. I’m not letting myself get hurt no more.”

“No more? Has he hurt you before?”

All the fire and brimstone suddenly left and she shrunk in on herself before she waved at the front yard. “Just stuff like that. Talking to my boyfriend about my sex life. More embarrassment than hurt.”

Chris rocked back and forth for a few seconds and scratched at the back of his neck. “I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised you kept the boots. In my experience girls get rid of everything that reminds them about an ex.”

She shook her head. “I loved those boots. I’m going to miss them more than I ever missed him.” He laughed and she playfully shoved his arm. “It’s true.” She sighed softly. Giving back those boots hurt her soul.

“I guess you’ll just have to go buy yourself some new boots now.” He grinned at her, trying to get her to smile back. “You like shoe shopping like most girls?”

“I can’t afford boots like those. Those were Luchesse and Frye and Old Gringo. I’ll be shopping down at the Payless and lucky to afford real leather.”

Chris stroked her hair and tucked back the strands that were falling in her face and obscuring her eyes. “Maybe I should take you shoe shopping.”

“No!” She yanked herself back from him. “No. I always told myself that Colt was just doing it because I was going to be his wife and he was just spoiling me because he loved me, though part of me always thought it was because I was poor and he was embarrassed of me around all his rich friends. I didn’t realize that he thought he was paying me for something.” She sat down on the floor and Bandit flopped his head in her lap. She buried her fingers in his fur and leaned over to kiss the top of his head. “Makes me feel like a whore,” she whispered.

Chris sat down on the floor facing her. Bandit looked at him curiously but didn’t seem inclined to move from his spot getting loved on. “I don’t think you’re a whore. You were in a relationship and sex is part of that. If he thought he had to pay you for giving him a gift–,”

Riley snorted.

“What?”

“It wasn’t no gift. It was me getting tired of him whining and shoving my head down and giving in so he would shut up. And you can say blowjob. I won’t clutch my pearls in horror and fall over dead.”

“I’m sorry he made you feel like a whore.” He reached across the distance separating them and pulled her to him, boosting her into his lap. “I will never do that to you.”

Riley wanted to believe him. She felt safe here in his lap, and the way he was looking at her made lightning bugs start darting around in her stomach, all fluttery and feeling like a glimpse of home in the dark. She kissed him, and his arms tightened around her, holding her close and precious against him as he kissed her back. It was just kissing at first, but nothing could stay just kissing with him, Riley was convinced. It felt too good and his hands were so big and firm on her back, and when one slid down to grab her ass, the little moan she made in response seemed to add fuel to whatever fire he had burning in him.  He was kneading her ass and sucking on her bottom lip and all she could do was hold on to him. Lucky for her there was plenty to hold on to. His shoulders were huge and muscly and just feeling him move under her hands was better than any of the kisses her ninth-grade boyfriend, Jeffrey Dupree, had ever given her.

Riley wanted to give as good as she got though. He might think she had a lip made for biting, but she was convinced the same was true of him. His bottom lip was a thing of beauty, all soft and luscious, and when she nipped at it, his fingers all dug in for a moment, and when she suckled he groaned, deep and gorgeous, and the sound made her break out in gooseflesh. The skin of his jaw was rough with stubble under her lips, but she remembered from their time swinging on Sunday that his ears were particularly sensitive. She scraped her teeth gently over his earlobe and he shifted underneath her as another groan rumbled in his chest. He was holding her so close she could feel it. She was about to take that little piece of softness on his big hard body between her teeth again when the sound of a big engine driving by outside snapped her out of the spell Chris’s touch had woven around her.

Riley scrambled to her feet and hurried into the living room to look out the window but the vehicle was already gone from view. She hugged herself and turned back around to see Chris watching her.

“How would you feel about me sleeping on your sofa tonight? Just so you can get a good night’s sleep.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

He kept his eyes fixed on her as he walked across the floor to her, and Riley couldn’t make herself look away. “You’re not asking. I’m volunteering. I’m going to sleep on your sofa, and me and Bandit will keep an eye on things and you can actually sleep without having to keep an ear out for intruders.”

“I just…” she trailed off. Chris softly touched her cheek and when she looked up at him, he brushed his fingertip over the dark circles under her eyes.

“I don’t know if these are new, or you’re just not wearing makeup and hiding them, but you need a night where you’re not worrying.”

She scraped her teeth over her upper lip a few times, and then she nodded slightly. “That would be nice. You can sleep in the other room if you want. It will be more comfortable than the couch.”

“I’ll take you up on that.” He kissed her forehead and then very lightly kissed her lips. “Now, you go get yourself in bed. I’m going to let Bandit out for a few minutes, and then I’ll make sure everything’s locked up.

Riley slowly nodded and went up on her tippy toes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you. I never would have asked, but thank you for offering.”

He kissed her one more time and then turned her around and swatted her bum. “Go get some sleep. You’re safe.”

Riley laid in bed as she listened to Chris take Bandit outside. A few minutes later they both came inside, and she heard the deadbolt slide home. She followed the sound of his feet through the house. The lock on the front door latched into place. He paused in her open doorway and she could see his gun belt slung over his shoulder.

“Good night, Blue.”

Bandit took a few steps into her room and she patted the bed. He jumped up on it and curled up at her feet. “Good night, Chris.”

He hesitated and then turned around. She didn’t hear the door to the other bedroom shut.


	8. Chapter 8

Riley padded quietly across the hall. Apparently not quietly enough because when she stuck her head in Chris’s room, he was looking at her. “You’re weren’t kidding about Bandit shoving you out of bed,” she said softly.

“And your bed’s smaller than the one I have at home.” He patted the bed next to him and Riley scurried across the cold floor and scrambled under the blankets. She curled up on her side, hugging the edge of the bed to leave plenty of room between her and Chris, but he slid an arm under her pillow and one around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. “Be my little spoon,” he murmured against her neck in his sleep-roughened voice.

Riley was powerless to resist that soft deep sound and relaxed against him. Their feet tangled together and she slid her hand under her pillow and into Chris’s. He held onto her and she fell asleep again, wrapped in his arms and blankets and the soothing scent of his body solid and secure against her back.

>< 

The first time she woke up, the angle of the sun through the windows made it obvious she had slept way past normal. If she hurried, she would only miss her first class, but she couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed right now. After not having missed a class in three semesters she figured it was her turn. She rolled over and snuggled into Chris who had turned onto his back at some point during the night. He opened his eyes enough to see her and smile. “Morning, Blue.”

Riley didn’t think it was fair that someone could be that gorgeous all groggy with sleep and bedhead. “Go back to sleep.” He was being a perfect gentleman – definitely better behaved than Bandit – but while he was awake she was beset with the almost irresistible temptation to kiss that stubbly face and not stop. He was warm and brave and safe, and that’s what she needed right now. Besides, this was her grandmother’s bed, and that would just be wrong.

He tightened his arm around her shoulder, kissed her forehead, and did what she said. Riley let the sound of his heartbeat and breathing lull her back to sleep.

The second time she woke up, Chris wasn’t there anymore but a note rested on his pillow. “Went back to my place to clean up. Left Bandit here to keep an eye on things. I’ll be back soon with breakfast.”

Riley jumped out of bed and ran for the bathroom. Her shower was interrupted by Bandit nosing his way past the shower curtain to check on her. He tucked tail and ran when him nosing her bum was met with a shriek of surprise and outrage. She was in her bedroom getting dressed after blow drying her hair when she heard the front door open. “Hello?” she called out her door.

“Just me,” Chris called back.

She finished getting dressed and frowned in the mirror before pinning her hair back. When she walked into the dining room, there was a to-go cup of coffee sitting on the table. A food bowl with kibble in it sat next to Bandit’s water bowl, matching it perfectly. Chris was in the kitchen. There were four bags of groceries sitting on the counter and he was putting things away in the fridge. The open bag of dog food sat next to a bag of potatoes and a bunch of bananas. “How many people are you planning on feeding this morning?”

He looked up from the fridge. “Just us. I checked your fridge this morning to see what we had to work with, and it looks like you haven’t made it to the market in a few days, so I thought I would stock up while I was there. Save you the time.”

He pulled a dozen eggs out of one of the bags and put it in the fridge.

“Chris…”

He pressed one finger to her lips. “Hush. I eat a lot, and this way I don’t feel bad making your budget stretch to feed me.” He went back to putting away groceries.

Riley gnawed on her top lip for a minute and then helped him put away the rest of the food. She couldn’t remember the last time her pantry had been this well stocked. It wasn’t just breakfast food either; she saw him putting a container of fancy ice cream in the freezer. There were boxes of spaghetti and jars of sauce and even a brownie mix and not a single thing had a generic label on it. She was doing a good job at pretending her pride hadn’t been bruised until she saw him pull a toaster out of the bottom of one of the bags. She bit her lips together and went out the open back door and sat on the back steps. Bandit stopped sniffing around the strange yard and came and sat next to her in the sunshine. Chris came out a minute later and handed her the cup of coffee. “Drink up before it gets cold.”

She sipped the coffee and petted the dog. Chris was moving around inside, probably making toast in the brand new toaster. At least he hadn’t bought her a coffee maker. That fancy cup of coffee she had been drinking the night they had met had been a rare splurge for her, one she’d justified because it was cheaper than repairing her car if she fell asleep and crashed on the way home. She could have gotten a cup of coffee at the restaurant before she had left, but she was so tired of being poor, and her defenses had been low after another crappy double shift as she had driven past the coffee hut.  _Two more years, Riley. Two more years and you’ll graduate and you won’t be poor anymore. You can make it._

“Breakfast is ready.”

She went back inside and washed her hands before she sat down at the table. Chris slid a plate in front of her. “Eat up. When you’re done I’ll take you down to Family Services department and help you get the restraining order started.”

Riley looked at the plate full of food. Toasted bagel with cream cheese, scrambled eggs, grits, and bacon; more than she’d normally have for breakfast in four days. He’d bought everything that morning except for the grits. He’d even purchased the orange juice. The bottle sat on the table, proclaiming itself to be grove stand fresh. She reached for the familiar bottle of Tabasco sauce and sprinkled some on her eggs. “Does it take long?”

Chris doused his eggs with the hot sauce as well. “You’ll fill out paperwork today, and they’ll give you a temporary restraining order. Colt has to be served with that, and then the department will set a hearing for a permanent restraining order, usually within five days.”

“And will Colt be there for that part?”

“Probably. If he doesn’t show up, though, the judge will still hear from you, and if the restraining order is granted, then you’ll have him served again.”

She ate for a while before she asked the question rattling around in her head. “So, how do I convince them to give me the restraining order?”

“The judge is going to want to see evidence that justifies limiting his freedom, so that note he left, texts he’s sent, things like that.”

Riley got up from the table and went into her bedroom and came back carrying a small journal. She handed it to Chris and he wiped his hands on a napkin before flipping open the cover. She watched his eyes scan the few lines she had written on the title page and then he looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

“’If I disappear or am found dead, please read this book’?”

Riley colored and shrugged.

Chris flipped the page and started reading. After that first night of him pounding on the front door for three hours, she had started the journal, writing down every time he came by, threats he made, texts he had sent before she finally blocked him, and how drunk he was. She had saved a few of the notes that he had left and they were tucked in between the pages. He stopped reading after the first few entries and flipped quickly through the filled pages. “This is exactly what the judge will want to see.”

“Okay.”

Riley could feel Chris watching her eat but she refused to look up at him. She was scared to see the pity she knew she would see in his face. He finally asked her, “Why didn’t you do something before this?”

She shrugged again. “It didn’t seem that important.”

“Your safety is important, Riley.”

“It caused trouble for me when I broke up with him. I didn’t want to start any more. But he’s not gonna give up, and I don’t want him making things bad for you either, and sooner or later a girl’s just gotta take a stand. This far. No more. And he’s pushed far enough.”

“I’m going to tell you something because I want you to be prepared.” He took her hand and held it between both of his. “A lot of guys get really upset when they get served with a restraining order. You need to be extra careful when you get home from work tonight. If he’s here waiting, you just keep driving. Go to the police station and I’ll meet you there.”

Riley felt her breakfast congeal into a hard greasy lump in her stomach. “Do you think he’ll do something?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t want you to risk getting hurt.” He let go of her hand only to cup her face. “No more stubbornness and shot guns. You let the police do their job now.” He called her Blue, but she could do the same thing to him. His eyes were big and earnest and held her still with an almost hypnotic energy.

Riley nodded and blinked rapidly a few times. This is what had kept her from doing anything before. Colt was harmless as long as he got his way. She had just kept him at arm’s distance. Now, though, she was going to stand up to him and she was terrified.

She didn’t know if Chris could see the fear in her eyes or feel her trembling but he leaned in and kissed her, soft and gentle and tasting of coffee. He kept kissing her until Riley climbed out of her chair and into his lap. She tucked her head against the crook of his neck and he held her until their coffee was cold. Chris pressed a kiss to her hair. “You ready to go do this, Riley?”

“No.” She took a deep breath. “But yes. Let me go put on some shoes.”

She went into her bedroom and pulled her last pair of boots out of the closet. They had been a gift from her parents upon her graduation from high school with a perfect GPA. They had been her first real grownup boots, and she had worn them under her graduation gown and on her first day of college. She hadn’t worn them in a few years now, but she vividly remembered the green and gold wrapping paper getting torn away to reveal the boot box and how excited she had been to have real boots. Things had been strained between her and her parents since the breakup. Riley had been too scared to tell people about the break-in, and her family had taken the story that Colt had put around – that he had found her stealing money from his mom’s purse – at face value and her brother had backed it up. She didn’t know if Brandon knew that Colt was lying or not, but he had never even asked her for her side of the story. After that first night of calling Brandon to get Colt off her porch, she’d hadn’t asked for help from anyone else.

She shined up the leather a bit and then pulled them on. These she had earned in a way she felt proud of, and she could earn herself the money to buy some more.  _Two more years, Riley. These boots will get you through two more years._


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is violence in this chapter.

The Friday night dinner rush was just starting to ramp up. Most of the couples were still older people enjoying their early bird special, but a few younger couples were starting to show up as well. Riley had just finished putting her customers’ plates on their table when a voice bellowed through the background music.

“Riley May Alcott, you get your ass over here!”

All conversation came to an abrupt halt as she slowly turned around. Hugging her tray to her chest like a shield, she scurried over to where Colt was standing.

He waved a paper at her. “Where the hell do you get the nerve having me served with a restraining order?”

Riley could see the faces of all the people peering at them curiously. “Colt, go away. I’m working.”

“I don’t care if you’re having tea with the queen! You are going to march right down to the courthouse and make this thing go away.”

“No. I’m not.” She tried to sound determined but it was hard to look him in the face when he was blustering like this. “And you’re violating it right now and I could call the police and have you arrested.”

“Did your cop boyfriend put you up to this?”

“You put me up to it with all your nonsense. Now leave!”

The shift manager, George, joined the two of them. “I’m sorry, sir. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Colt was huffing like a bull seeing red as he turned to George. “Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, sir, I do, but I’m still going to ask you to leave. You’re disrupting the other diners.”

Colt scowled and before Riley could say anything, he grabbed her arm and yanked her towards the door. She could feel his big state championship ring cutting into her skin.

“Colt, let me go!” She smacked him with her serving tray and he ripped it from her hand.

“Don’t you raise a hand to me, Riley. I’ve been a gentleman but if you’re not going to be a lady, I’ll respond in kind.”

Riley dug in her feet and grabbed onto the handle of the door. “Let me go! Just leave me alone!”

George grabbed Colt by the arm. “Let her go!”

Colt did, only long enough to cold-clock the manager and drop him to the ground. Riley screamed in horror and ducked down to make sure he was still breathing. Blood bloomed across his face from where he’d been hit. That ring made quite a weapon.

Colt grabbed her around the waist and hauled her out the second set of doors. Riley grabbed for the door handle and missed so she started pounding on Colt and screaming her head off. “Let me go!”

“I’m taking you down to the courthouse right now and you are going to drop this damn restraining order.”

“Are you high?” Riley gasped. “Oh my god, are you  _high_?” He’d always gotten more aggressive when he was using, and now that it was meth instead of cocaine who knew what he was capable of. She began pounding on him with both of her fists, kicking and screaming, terrified of what might happen if he got her in his truck. By the sound of his swearing, she must have connected with something sensitive.

Colt put her down, grabbed her neck in one large hand and slapped her across the face with the other. “Next time, it won’t be an open hand,” he growled at her. His spittle mixed with the blood on her face.

She was just about to try for a knee to the family jewels when he was yanked away from her. The man she had just served the chicken fried steak platter grabbed Colt around both elbows, pinning his arms behind his back and Eddie, one of the busboys, planted the most beautiful fist she had ever seen square in Colt’s face. It almost made her own face hurt a little less to see the bastard fold up and fall like that.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. Eddie took her back into the restaurant and put her in a booth. Rebekah went and got her an ice pack from the kitchen. Most of the customers went back to eating but several of them were flagging down the waitresses to ask for their checks. She heard the paramedics arrive and start tending to George. He’d regained consciousness, but they weren’t letting him sit up yet. Another set of sirens heralded the arrival of the police.

A few minutes later an officer in a familiar looking uniform sat down across from her. “I’m Officer Turner. Can I ask you a few questions about what happened?”

Riley lowered the bloodstained sack of ice from her face. Bastard had split her lip and that was going to make kissing Chris problematic for the next little while. One more thing to hate him for. “Sure.”

“First off, what’s your name?”

“Riley Alcott.”

The officer lowered his note pad. “Wait, are you Evans’ girl?”

She didn’t even have the energy to blush at this point. “Um, yeah?”

“Didn’t recognize you with the ice pack.” He grabbed the handset on his shoulder. “Dispatch, can you have Officer Evans come to Stockman’s? Turns out this is part of an ongoing case he’s working.”

“Don’t! Don’t have him come. He’s working.”

He fixed her with a quelling stare. “If he found out that I knew you’d been hurt and didn’t tell him, he’d sic Bandit on me. I’m doing this for my own protection.”

She was almost done recounting what had happened when she heard a muttered, “I’m gonna kill him.” She looked up to see Chris. His nostrils were flaring as he gently cupped her chin and tilted her face so he could see the extent of her injuries better. “I swear, I’m gonna kill him with my own bare hands.”

Riley took Chris’s hand and tugged him down to sit next to her. “You’re not going to kill him, but I’m pretty sure this counts as violating the restraining order.”

“Yes, it does.” Chris wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tucked her into his side. “And arresting him on a Friday night guarantees he’ll be in jail until at least Monday morning. That should give you a few nights of being able to sleep good.”

Riley pressed the bag of ice to her face again. The tea towel wrapped around it was stained crimson in places. “You weren’t kidding about him having a reaction to being served.”

Chris kissed her head. “I’m so sorry, Blue.”

“I think he might be high. I can’t imagine him being this stupid on his own.”

“I’ll make sure he gets tested.”

Jackson coughed.

Chris grinned and sat back, stroking his hand up and down Riley’s arm. “Sorry, Officer Turner will make sure he gets tested. This is not my case.”

Jackson asked her a few more questions and then took a few pictures of her face. “Are you going to go to the ER?”

“No. It’s just a split lip. I’m going to go wash up and get back to work.”

Jackson excused himself to go talk to someone else, leaving her with Chris who was gazing at her reproachfully. “You should take the rest of the night off.”

“Split lips don’t pay the bills though.”

“Riley…”

She pushed him. “Scoot, I have to get back to work and this isn’t your decision.”

Chris got up from the booth and helped her to her feet. He kissed her forehead. “Call me when you get off your shift.”

“I will.”

 ><

Riley called Chris twenty minutes later.

“You change your mind and decide to go home?”

She bit her sore lip to keep from crying she was so mad. “I got fired.”

“Wait, what?”

“The owner fired me. He doesn’t want me bringing my troubles to work and costing him business.”

“Babe, I’m so sorry.”

Her knuckles were white around her steering wheel and the speedometer kept creeping up. “Tell me again how this restraining order is a good idea?”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I’m on my way home. I’m gonna take some Tylenol and go to bed.”

“I’m so sorry. I had no idea he would go to your work.”

“He’s different. He wasn’t like this when we got engaged. But he started getting angry and paranoid there towards the end and he’s gotten a lot worse in the last few months. He’s lost weight and he’s just not the same. It’s like the light’s gone out in his smile.”

“Do you want me to come by after I get off of work?”

“No. I’m just gonna go to sleep.”

“I’ve got all day off tomorrow. You want me to come get you and take you away from all this?”

There was his melted cheese voice again. She could lose herself in that sweet darkness. It would be so easy to let him take over her life. “You think we can get that far in one day?”

“I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

“The only place I want to be right now is in one of your hugs.”

“I can do that.”

Riley ran a hand through her hair and thought about his hugs. Tomorrow would be better than today. It had to be. There was no way it could be worse. “I’ll call you when I get up in the morning. We can figure out what to do then.”

“Sounds good. And Blue?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry this happened to you.”

She managed half a smile. Even if she had wanted to do a full smile, she couldn’t with her lip the way it was. “Me too.” She ended the phone call. At least there was one thing to look forward to. A full day with her boyfriend.

When she pulled into her driveway, she smiled even though it hurt. Chris was parked in front of her house, leaning against the trunk of his cruiser with his arms crossed over his chest. She turned off her car and walked straight over to him and into his open arms. She put her head on his shoulder and then grimaced and turned her face to the other side so she wasn’t pressing the swollen and bruised part of her face against him.

“You said you needed a hug. I may have done a shitty job of protecting you today, but I can at least get you the hug you need.”

Riley couldn’t even protest that he should be at work. Right now she would take advantage of every warm bit of him holding her tight and close. The tears began to silently flow and he picked her up. “Come on, my girl.”

She got her keys out of her purse and he unlocked the front door. He sat in her grandpa’s big arm chair and held her until the tears were only a memory. Only once she’d been silent for a few minutes did he say anything. “Is there anything else I can do for you, Blue?”

She wiped her hands across her cheeks and then on the skirt of her uniform. “No. Thank you for coming over.”

“I should get back on duty then.”

Riley slid off of his lap and he stood up. Riley gently ran her fingers over the badge pinned to his shirt. It was the first time she’d touched it. Her hand moved to the insignia on his collar and then the patches on his sleeve. “I know that he’s in jail, but will you spend the night here with me again?”

Chris lifted her chin with a finger so she was looking at him. “I will gladly spend the night with you, Riley.”

“I like being your little spoon.”

He bent and kissed the uninjured side of her mouth. “Good, because I plan on spooning you for a long time to come.”

She gave him the spare key to the front door and he slipped it in his pocket. “Don’t wait up for me. There’s ice cream in the freezer,” he reminded her. “The cold might feel nice on that lip.”

She lifted up on her toes and kissed him softly. “So do you.”


	10. Chapter 10

Riley squinted at the clock on her bedside table when she heard the front door open. It was almost one am. She listened to Chris talking to Bandit and moving around the house. The water turned on and off again and kibble rattled against the food bowl. She was lying on her side when he finally showed up in her doorway wearing a black t-shirt that was stretched almost obscenely tight over his chest and striped pajama pants. He placed his gun belt on the nightstand and Riley flipped back the covers for him. He climbed into bed, resting his head on the other pillow so he was facing her, their faces a half dozen inches apart. He looked so out of place on her soft faded floral linens that she couldn’t help but smile, especially since he seemed right at home.

“You manage to get any sleep yet?”

“Not really.”

He leaned over and barely brushed his lips over the cut on her mouth. “I’m so sorry I got you hurt.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” She tilted her face so she could kiss him with the less sore part of her mouth.

“I told you I was going to keep you safe.” His hand sought her out under the blankets, coming to a rest on the soft skin of her waist.

“I’ll be safer in the long run because of you.” She prodded the corner of his mouth and made him smile. “Besides, I feel safer with you here now.”

Chris stroked her hair, watching the way the moonlight illuminated her face. “Is it me that makes you feel safe or is it just someone being here?”

Riley scraped her teeth over her upper lip as she thought. “Well, I think anyone being here would help some, but I don’t know many people I’d actually ask to stay over. For some reason, my brain has decided that it is acceptable to inconvenience you.”

“I’m glad your brain’s made that decision, but I have to say, holding you all night is not an inconvenience. It’s quite nice.”

“Even if we don’t…you know…” She blushed as her voice trailed off.

“Have sex?” She nodded. “Riley. We’ve only known each other a little more than a week. I’ve only taken you on two real dates. ”

“There’s parts of me that really want to.”

“There’s parts of me that really want to as well. Trust me, my girl, you have a body that could make a saint turn to thoughts of sin.”

“ _You_  are a sweet talker.”

“May be sweet, but it’s the unvarnished truth.” His hand slid from her waist down to her bum and he squeezed. “Every time I see you I wanna just grab hold and not let go.” He gave her a cheeky grin.

She scooted closer so the tip of her nose was just against his. “I like it when you grab hold,” she confessed quietly.

Chris lifted one eyebrow in response. “You do?”

“Yes indeed. You have big strong hands. I like ‘em.”

“C’mere.” He slid his other arm around her and pulled her closer. Her head fit perfectly under his chin and he left his hand on her butt. “Now you go to sleep before I grab anything else. You’ve had a long day.”

She kissed his chest and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, she softly said, “Chris?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Anytime, Blue.”

>< 

Riley woke to sun coming in the windows and an empty bed. She padded out into the kitchen to see the backdoor open and hear Chris out back talking to Bandit before she retreated to the bathroom. She was examining the purple bruise spreading from the side of her mouth when Chris leaned in the doorway. “What do you want to do today?”

“I can’t very well go out looking like this.” She waved at her face. “People are going to think you did it to me, but I don’t want to stay home either and feel like I’m under siege or hiding.”

“You go get dressed. I’ve got just the thing.”

Fifteen minutes later he was helping her into the cab of his truck. Bandit was sitting in the crew cab ready to tag along on whatever adventure the two of them were going to get up to. As Chris started driving, Bandit stuck his head forward through the gap between the seats to make sure he didn’t miss any of the conversation.

“First,” Chris said, “coffee.”

Another twenty minutes and they were heading out of town with huge cups of coffee and even larger breakfast burritos from a disreputable looking food wagon she never would have stopped at. After a few bites she looked at Chris with a frown. “This isn’t very good.”

Chris was halfway through his already and he gave her a confused glance. “No?”

“I think I should eat yours too and save you from it.”

He laughed and shifted his burrito to his other hand, the one away from her. “You keep your hands off my food, girl.”

His laughter sounded like what rubbing a puppy’s belly felt like. She leaned over and whispered, “What else do I have to keep my hands off of?” trying to make him laugh again but it didn’t work. Instead, Chris gave her a look that made her blush to her roots and she plopped herself down in her seat again and went back to eating her burrito.

He finally pulled over at a dog friendly park. As soon as he opened his door, Bandit crawled over the seat and was out like a shot. Chris grabbed a tennis ball out of the truck bed and threw it as he made his way around to let Riley out. By the time her feet were on the ground and the door shut, Bandit was making his way back to the truck with the ball. He dropped it at Riley’s feet and looked up at her.

“Okay, boy, but you’re going to be disappointed. I can’t throw it nearly as far as your master.” She picked up the slightly damp tennis ball and lobbed it. Bandit chased the ball down and ran back with it. He huffed at Riley and dropped the ball at Chris’s feet.

“I think your dog just gave me the stink-eye.”

“I think he did.” Chris threw the ball again and Bandit ran off again. Riley found a spot on top of a picnic table to sit and drink her coffee while Chris and Bandit ran around together. Bandit found a stick and they played tug of war with it for a while. Finally, when Bandit was tired enough to be content with wandering around sniffing all the new smells, Chris came back to where she was sitting.

“Bored yet?”

Riley shook her head. “It’s nice watching you run around.”

He posed. The giant puppy actually posed like he’d just scored the winning touchdown in the Sugar Bowl. “You like watching me?”

Riley stifled a giggle. “You’re a very attractive man, Officer.”

He knelt on the bench between her feet so he could get closer. “I want to kiss you so bad right now, but I don’t want to cause you any more pain.”

Riley set down her coffee cup and grabbed the front pockets of his jeans and gave him a little tug. “Kissing you is worth a little pain.”

Chris smiled and leaned in. His lips brushed gently against the bruise spreading over her cheek and chin and then moved to her lips. Riley kept her hands on his pockets as she braced for the touch against her cut mouth, but he pressed exactly enough to give the sensation of touch without aggravating the swollen skin.

He continued to kiss her with exquisite care and Riley let go of his pockets and slid her arms around his waist. She wriggled closer and Chris grabbed her ass and pulled her firmly against him. He left his hands on her rear as they continued to kiss. Kiss after kiss was slowly exchanged and when he finally bit her bottom lip, he was careful to keep his teeth away from her injury.

Riley quietly moaned as her lip dropped from his teeth. She rested her forehead against his shoulder as she heard car doors opening and closing and the sounds of other people. Her breathing was fast and Chris’s arms wrapped around her back and held her close and gentle against his chest.

“What do you say we go for a long drive and then we can watch the Bama game at my place this afternoon?”

Riley would have agreed to just about any plan that would let her keep holding his hand for the rest of the day. “That sounds real nice.”

>< 

Chris and Riley were cuddled on the couch at his house watching the game on the most enormous flat-screen television Riley had ever seen outside a store. His house screamed bachelor to her, from the black leather couches and basket full of game controllers to the pool table where a dining table should be. Bandit had his own big bed in the living room, and was curled up on it watching the game with every sign of understanding the action.

Riley had her feet tucked between Chris’s on the coffee table, pinned there to keep her from playing footsie and distracting him at key moments of the game. His arm was around her and she was quite content where she was, except for one little thing.

“You should make me a sandwich.”

Chris covered his mouth to keep from spitting his beer out. When he managed to swallow, he turned to Riley and grinned at her. “You think I should make you a sandwich?”

“Well, I think somebody should and I don’t think Bandit can do that.”

“ _You_  could make you a sandwich.”

Riley crinkled her nose at him. “That’s no fun.” She looked at the TV again. “I have an idea. If this next play is a pass, you make sandwiches, and if it’s a run, I’ll make sandwiches, and if it’s a quarterback sneak, we go to Norma’s and buy all the mud cake they have left and eat that instead.”

Chris clinked the neck of his beer bottle against hers. “You’re on, girl.”

A few minutes later, Riley was in the kitchen making sandwiches from all the ingredients Chris had gotten out of the fridge, confused as to how he stayed as fit as he was if he ate like this regularly. She was choosing between three different mustards when Chris brushed her hair to the side and softly kissed her neck. Bit by bit he worked down her throat, kissing his way across her skin and tugging at her shirt to expose more of her shoulder to his mouth. He gently bit and Riley gasped and then when he licked the same spot her eyes fluttered closed and she moaned.

His hand closed over her breast and Riley dropped the knife she had been using. She grabbed hold of the counter to keep herself steady as his hand squeezed and kneaded until she was whimpering. He suckled on her earlobe while he undid the buttons on her plaid shirt and pulled it off, leaving her in her tank top, and sought out her breast again. With one less layer of fabric in the way it felt like he was directly touching her skin. Her nipple was already hard but then he caught it between his fingers and tugged and sparks went flying like a bottle rocket directly straight down to her groin. She clenched her thighs together against the sudden heat. Chris felt her reaction ripple through her body and tugged again, a bit harder this time. She looked back at him and his mouth closed over hers as he leaned against her, trapping her between his hard body and the counter. He grabbed her hair and pulled back from the kiss long enough to see her open-mouthed, stretching to kiss him again, and his tongue flicked between her teeth.

The last thing that mattered to Riley at that moment was her sore lips. She wanted to kiss him more than she wanted to breathe, and the way he couldn’t tear himself away from her mouth made her pretty sure he was feeling the same way. He was beginning to grind against her bum and she could feel him getting harder the longer they kissed. Her thighs were tingling and her back was arching to keep him touching her breast and she was drowning in his kisses. His other hand joined the first, cupping her breast and teasing her nipple. His hands were so big they made her feel dainty, but then his hand slid down her stomach and popped open the button on her jeans and Riley kinda panicked.

“We need to stop.” She shoved at his shoulder and he took a step back. His lips were darker than normal and he looked at her all confused. Riley covered her face with her hands. Her cheeks were flaming hot.

Chris took a shaky breath. He didn’t say anything, just stared at the ceiling with his eyes closed.

“I’m sorry,” Riley whispered. She rebuttoned her jeans and then picked up her shirt from off the floor.

“You don’t need to apologize. Holding you while you slept the last few nights has made my mind start to wander towards other things and I jumped the gun a little there.” He took another slow breath and let it out; it almost sounded like normal. “I need to take a moment to calm down, so why don’t I run down to Norma’s and get us some mud cake while you finish making those sandwiches, okay?”

Riley nodded, still not looking at him. He kissed the top of her head and a few seconds later the front door shut behind him.


	11. Chapter 11

When Chris walked in his front door with a Norma’s bag in one hand, the woman sitting on his couch was not the one he expected to see there.

“Mom?”

She smiled at him like he was the sun coming out after six months of winter. “Hello, Christopher.”

He glanced around for Riley but there was no sign of her. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I haven’t heard from you in so long I thought I would drive up and see if you had gotten yourself shot again.”

He rolled his eyes. This again. “It was a graze.”

“You got _shot_  and I found out about it on the  _news_.”

This was an unwinnable battle so he changed the topic. “Mom, where’s Riley?”

“Oh, is that the name of the girl in the tank top and panties that was draped across your couch? She wouldn’t tell me.”

“Tank top and…” His brain short circuited and he shook his head to get it to reboot. “Where is she?”

“She’s locked herself in the bathroom and won’t come out.”

Chris started down the hall.

“I told her she had nothing to be embarrassed about, and that I knew you were an adult and had an active sex life, but it didn’t seem to help.”

Chris ground to a halt and he grabbed his head like he’d just been struck with the most giant headache of his life. “Mother.”

“What? I feel bad that I upset her.”

He walked back to the couch and pulled his mother to her feet. “Mom, you know I love you, but you need to go now. Riley and I haven’t actually had sex yet so…” His strained smile did nothing to mask his frustration and he pointed towards the door.

“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “Oooooh, I am definitely interrupting then.” She grabbed her purse off the coffee table. “I brought supper up for you and it’s in the fridge.” She hurried towards the door. “And call more often. I worry about you.”

“I know, Mom. I’ve been really busy.”

“About to get busier, I think,” she muttered and Chris laughed.

“Go home, Mom. Thanks for supper.” He kissed her cheek and gave her a hug. With a sigh he shut the door and then fell back against it for a moment as he steeled himself to go talk Riley out of the bathroom.

He knocked on the bathroom door. “Riley? Open up, please?”

“We are breaking up!”

“What? Why?” How much damage had his mother managed to inflict in the few minutes he had been gone?

“Your mother saw me in my panties, that’s why!”

He bit his lips to keep from audibly laughing. “Listen, I know that’s got to be embarrassing –,”

“Humiliating!”

“Okay, humiliating, but it’s no reason to break up.”

“Yes it is, because if we don’t, and we actually work out and stuff, I’ll be spending every Easter and Christmas and birthday and Fourth of July sitting across a table from her thinking, ‘That woman knows what I look like in my underwear,’ and I love Christmas too much to spend it reliving my shame for the rest of her hopefully long and healthy life.”

Riley sat on the toilet rubbing her suddenly itching hands against her jeans and waiting for a response but none came. “Chris?”

Still no answer.

Confused, she opened the door a few inches to see if he was still there. He grabbed the door and pulled it the rest of the way open.

“Come out here.”

“No.”

“Very well then.” He walked into the bathroom, shut the door, and leaned against it. “We’re not breaking up over my mom seeing you in your underwear.”

Riley perched on the edge of the bathtub. She’d undergone enough embarrassment in one afternoon to let him see her sitting on the toilet. “You don’t understand. She didn’t react at all. It didn’t faze her, like she’s seen plenty of half-naked women lounging provocatively on your furniture.”

“She hasn’t seen any half-naked women on my furniture before.”

She kept talking like he hadn’t said a word. “And then she says, ‘Oh, you must be Christopher’s newest girlfriend.’ Not  _new_  but  _newest._  Like you go through them like a teenage boy and a box of Kleenex.” She squinted up at him. “Do you go through a lot of girlfriends, Christopher?”

Chris swallowed a few times before he answered. “They didn’t merit the title girlfriend,” he finally responded, staring at his feet.

“So what title did you give them? Fuck bunnies?”

“Riley!”

“What? She’s trying to talk me out of the bathroom and she asks how we met. ‘Did you get a flat tire and he stopped to help you?’”

Chris’s eyes sank shut as his head fell back against the door.

“How did she know that, Christopher? Do you do this a lot? Show up in your cop car and help out some girl and then get all flirty and melted cheese voice and you get to play the rescuing hero and you hold them in your big strong arms and they put out because they’re just so damn grateful?” She stood and grabbed his face, making him look at her. “Do you make sure they have a bad ex so you can rile them up and talk them into getting a restraining order because you’re just so damn protective of them, knowing that it’s just going to end up with her getting smacked around and then you can stomp around and threaten to kill him and make her feel like she needs you even more? Like she’s not safe without you?”

He still didn’t say anything but she could see the muscle in his jaw twitching.

“Tell me, was me getting hit in the face part of your plan?”

That got a response from him. “Goddammit, Riley, I would  _never_  put you in harm’s way.”

She took a step back from the anger glaring in his eyes and firming the set of his chin. You could build houses with a jaw that square. His arms stayed folded over his chest, though. He made no move to grab her. “Have you done it to any of your other girlfriends?” she asked softly.

“No. And they weren’t girlfriends. They were more like…groupies.”

“Groupies,” she repeated flatly.

He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. A flush was creeping up from under the collar of his shirt. “Some girls have a thing for cops. It’s all about the uniform. They want the handcuffs.”

It took a second but she got the visual he was suggesting. “So you just…

“Fucked.” He spit the word out. “Yes. Since Brittany and I broke up, I’ve been spending my free time on women who thought me being a cop was an asset instead of a liability. They wanted the fantasy, and I could do that for a few weeks at a time.” The square jaw of anger was gone and he seemed smaller to her somehow. “Keep from getting lonely,” he finished quietly.

She could feel her anger slipping away too. All that was left was sadness. “You lied to me.”

“How?”

She sank back down on the edge of the bathtub. “I asked if you did this to all the girls you helped and you said no.”

He squatted down in front of her and rested his hands on the tub on either side of her. “I don’t do this to all the girls, Riley. I don’t pick up girls on the job. My mom was trying to be funny. She does that. I think you’d really like her if you gave her a chance. I helped you because it’s my job and you were sweet and kind and innocent looking with big blue eyes like the summer sky, and you told me to take off the uniform shirt. It didn’t matter to you that I was a cop. You didn’t want me catching a cold because my shirt was wet. And then later that night you made me take off the gun belt, and not so you could wear it while you gave me a lap dance.”

Her face twisted in a scowl. “It seems like you’ve had some very talented young ladies make your acquaintance recently,” she muttered. Where was a witty Elizabeth Bennet retort when you needed it?

“I’ve had a lot of sex. I haven’t had a relationship since Britt and maybe that’s screwed up my view of how fast these things go, but you’re the one who crawled into my bed the first night and asked me to crawl into yours the second night. You’re not putting this all on me and it is not my fault my mom caught you in your underwear.”

“These aren’t even my supercute underwear. I deliberately did not wear cute underwear today because I didn’t need any more encouragement to take my jeans off around you than I already have just from looking at your face. And your shoulders. Seriously, your shoulders should be illegal.”

Chris held still and kept from smiling as her eyes kind of unfocused and her fingers glided over his shoulder. After a few seconds, she shook herself and yanked her hand back.

“Are we okay now?”

She nodded but then her head froze and her eyes got huge. “Your mom thinks I wear granny panties!”

Chris laughed and stood up, making sure to get out of smacking distance before he responded. “You can put on a different pair, take a picture, and send it to her.”

“Christopher!”

“Riley!” he repeated with the exact same outraged intonation and a grin.

She stood up and took the two steps to cross the bathroom before she crashed her forehead against his chest. “I feel like an idiot,” she mumbled.

He wrapped his arms around her and stroked a hand slowly up and down her back until she relaxed a bit. He finally asked the question that had been sitting front and center since his mother had said the words. “Why were you in nothing but your panties and a tank top, Blue?”

“Because you… and then I… and you left and…” She waved her hands about in indecipherable movements.

“Riley, look at me.”

She tilted her head all the way back so she could see him.

“I’m glad my mom caught you and you put your jeans back on because the only reason I want you taking them off around me is because you want to. Not because you’re trying to keep me happy. I can take a walk around the block if I need to let things recede to sea level, as it were.”

Riley snorted at the analogy and covered her face with her hands again. “It just feels so good to kiss you and you kissing me and then your hands and the grabbing and squeezing and I’m just not quite ready to make sex with you but I  _want_  to in all my body parts except my brain and my heart.”

“Those are the most important ones.” He sat on the edge of the counter and pulled her so she was standing between his legs and they could see eye to eye without either one getting a crick in the neck. “Riley, I’m gonna keep kissing you in the future, but I’m not going to take your shirt off,” he buttoned one more button on her shirt, “or touch your breasts again until you tell me you’re ready. I don’t want to give you a reason to do something you don’t want to. I’m not Colt. I’m not going to whine until you give in. Your kisses are more than enough to keep me happy.” He cupped her face in his big hands. “Okay?”

Riley looked into his big earnest blue eyes and took a deep breath to settle her nerves and get rid of all the negative feelings that had been traipsing all over her brain ever since his mother had walked in the front door. Nothing could really be done about the granny panties, but other than that, she felt better. “Yeah. Your kisses keep me happy too.”

“Good.” He kissed her softly. “Now, let’s go eat some mud cake.”


	12. Chapter 12

Riley was snuggled into Chris’s side, sipping on a bottle of beer and watching football. The piece of mud cake she’d devoured earlier was starting to wear off and she was thinking about getting one of the sandwiches she had made out of the fridge when her phone rang. She squirmed against Chris as she tried to get it out of her the pocket of her jeans and elbowed him in the ribs when he made a throaty growl of appreciation at the feel of her rubbing against him.

She was about to turn off her phone and toss it to the other end of the sofa when she saw the caller ID. Thumbing on the call, she asked, “Brandon?”

“Are you okay, Riley?”

She stood up and put her hand over her other ear so she could hear him better over the commentators on the television. “I’m fine. Why?”

“Clint just called me and asked if it was true that Colt had assaulted you and gotten arrested last night.”

She looked at Chris who had muted the television and was watching her pace. “Yeah, that was me.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound like fine to me, Riley.”

“Nice of you to be concerned all of a sudden. He’s in jail. That’s pretty good for me lately. How did Clint hear about it?”

“It’s apparently the front page of the local section of the paper today.”

Riley grabbed a handful of her hair and began twisting it. She thought her breakup had been bad but at least it hadn’t been in the paper.

“Has he done this before?”

“Where was all this brotherly concern when I had you haul him off my porch, Brandon?”

“I swear I’m gonna beat the shit out of him for you, Riley. If Dad doesn’t get to him first, that is.”

“No you’re not. And Dad’s not going to either. Does Dad even know about this?”

“No, but you can guarantee someone will bring it up at church tomorrow.”

Riley swore under her breath and then sighed. “You at Mom and Dad’s for supper?”

“Yeah.”

“Tell Mom to set two more places. I’m coming over.” She hung up before he could ask who the second place was for. With closed eyes she took a deep breath and slowly let it out before she looked at Chris and forced herself to smile. “I guess we’re just having a meet the parents kind of day. Wanna go have supper with my parents?”

“Sure. I’m not going to make you go through this by yourself if you want me there.” He looked down at what he was wearing and rubbed his chin. “Let me go put on a clean shirt and shave and we’ll go.”

>< 

Riley knocked on the front door and then opened it. “Hello?” she called.

“In here!” Brandon yelled back.

Grabbing Chris’s hand like a combination floatation device and baseball bat, she walked through the foyer and into the living room. Everything looked exactly the same as it had eight months ago the last time she had been there. The furniture was all tan and the carpet was hunter green and the wallpaper border around the ceiling had the same burgundy and green bunting between baskets of flowers that she had always hated. It wasn’t just the décor that was the same. Brandon and her dad were watching football, and Jessa and Carly were sitting on opposite ends of the sofa, one blonde head and one brunette, both identically bent over their phones texting. She wouldn’t be surprised if they were texting each other. She’d spent countless Saturday evenings in this room watching football while her mother was in the kitchen baking enough food to feed a small army. Judging by the aroma, that’s exactly where she was right now.

“Hello,” she said, a slight tremor shaking her voice. Heads turned and she could tell that Brandon hadn’t told anyone she was coming over. Eyes darted back and forth between her face and the man standing next to her.

“Riley!” Jessa finally broke the silence.

“Hi. Everyone, this is my boyfriend Chris. Chris, this is Brandon, Jessa, Carly, and my dad.”

Her father was already out of his chair and walking towards them with narrowed eyes. “He the one that did this to your face?”

Riley shifted so she was standing slightly in front of Chris, but he scooted her right back and put an arm in front of her. “No, he’s not.”

“You lying again, girl?”

“I never lied to you!”

“Riley?” She heard a voice from behind her.

“Hi, Mom.” She turned around and smiled, even though it hurt. “I thought I’d come over for Saturday supper like I used to.”

“What did you do to your face, sweetie?” Her mom gripped her chin and tilted it so she could see the damage better.”

“Colt hit me.”

She heard the gasps and forced another smile.

“Why would Colt hit you?” Her eyes dropped to the way Riley was still grabbing ahold of Chris with both hands. “You obviously aren’t back together with him.”

“He was mad that I had a restraining order put against him and he thought slapping me around would change my mind.”

Her mother blinked and her eyes watered. Her father bellowed, “Why in God’s green earth did you get a restraining order against Colt Thompson?”

“Because he’s been harassing me for the last eight months solid and I was sick of it.”

Her parents exchanged glances and her mother stroked her dad’s shoulder, trying to get him to calm down. Standing in front of him, she asked, “Why would he harass you, Riley? I mean, he was so nice about not pressing charges against you for stealing all that money from his mother.” She glanced at Chris, nervously assessing his mood.

“I didn’t steal money from  _anybody._ ”

“But that’s what Colt said.”

Riley scooted around Chris so she was facing her mom with no intervention. “And you all believed his side of the story. None of you even asked me.” Chris’s hand settled lightly on the small of her back and the feel of that broad swath of comfort gave her courage to finally have this fight and be done with it.

“Well, why else would he have broken off your engagement dear?”

“ _I_ broke off the engagement, mother. I did. Because he was using drugs. A lot of them. And then he started dealing out of  _my_  house. Out of your  _mother’s_  house. He was storing cocaine in the basement and he decided to cut his partners out of the profit and they broke into my house to take back what they thought was theirs and I couldn’t put up with all the lies and the danger, so I changed the locks and dropped my ring off at his work. And that’s when Brandon got called to haul him off my porch because he was threatening to kill me.”

“He didn’t threaten to kill you,” Brandon objected.

She spared him a withering glance. “Not once you showed up.”

“You mean…” Brandon’s jaw clenched and she saw fire in his eyes.

Mom put a hand on Brandon’s shoulder, gently restraining him as he loomed over her. Her mother shared Riley’s height and both her son and her husband outstretched her by at least six inches and fifty pounds of muscle, but both of them toed the line if she so much as looked at them crossly. “Riley, honey, if this is true, why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“Because you all just  _believed_ him. You believed him that I was stealing money from his parents. Me.  _Me_ , mom. You know me, or at least I thought you did, and you believed  _him_ and you never even asked me and I was so ashamed of all the secrets I’d been hiding for so long that I wondered if I had actually turned into the person you would believe that about.”

“Oh, Riley. Come here.”

Riley felt herself being pulled into her mother’s arms and after a moment of stubborn refusal she hugged her in return. The smell of her mom’s perfume and the sage from whatever she was cooking wrapped around her, as familiar and comforting as her mother’s hugs, and she began to cry. Chris took a step towards her but her mother shook her head at him and he retreated.

He smiled nervously at her father and Brandon who were both watching him with wary interest.

Her father crossed his arms over his chest. “So, Chris, didn’t catch your last name.”

“Evans, sir.”

“I’ve got some friends down at the police station. If I called and asked them to run a background check on you, what would they tell me?”

“Well, it depends on who your friends are. I happen to be a police officer, sir, and some of them like to give me a hard time.”

He nodded slowly and the muscles in his arms rippled as his hands worked into fists. “So is it you who talked my daughter into getting a restraining order?”

“I suggested it, sir, but it was her decision.”

“So it’s your fault she’s got that bruise across her face.”

“Daddy! It’s not his fault.” Riley sniffed and wiped her hand across her blotchy cheeks. “I got the restraining order because Colt was terrifying me. I’ve been sleeping with a handgun under my pillow for the last eight months wondering if this was the night he was going to actually break in. Chris believed me when I told him what was going on and it made me finally brave enough to stand up for myself since no one else in this whole town ever asked for my side of what happened. Colt got me fired from the job I had when he started telling people I was a thief, and him showing up at Stockman’s and picking a fight got me fired from there, and now he’s got eight months of crazy behind him and he’s stubborn as a bull and he’s started using meth and maybe if someone had bothered to ask me eight months ago what was going on I would have stood up to him then, so if you’re going to blame someone for my face besides Colt, blame yourselves.”

The silence was leaden as everyone digested that pronouncement. Jessa and Carly were still sitting on the sofa, but they were watching with rapt attention to see if their dad was going to have an aneurism. Riley couldn’t tell if Carly’s hand had just frozen that way or if she was actually filming what was going on. Jessa caught Riley’s eye and smiled, and then pointed at Chris and gave her a thumbs up before beginning to make obscene kissing gestures.

“Jessa!” Her mom’s rebuke broke the silence and Riley laughed and Carly threw one of the throw pillows at her little sister and the looming storm clouds broke and the sunshine weakly reappeared.

“Now, go watch your game, Daddy. I’m going to get Chris a beer. Do either of you want one while I’m in there?” She looked at Brandon who shook his head. “Take Chris with you. He played college ball,” she called over her shoulder as she followed her mother into the rooster bedecked kitchen. Football should be a safe topic of conversation until she got back in there.

“Where’d you play?” her father asked.

Riley sighed and rested her head against the stainless steel refrigerator for a moment. That was new. Her mom must finally be getting around to replacing the old appliances.

Her mom patted her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Riley. We should have asked you, but Colt’s been like a son to us for so long, and things had gotten so weird with you there towards the end that…” She rubbed her hands together and then wiped them on her spotless apron. “Well, what’s done is done and the important thing is we believe you now and if you need any help at all with anything, you just say the word.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“In fact, I’m going to make an apple cobbler right now. I know how much you love apple cobbler and I’ll have Jessa run to the store and get some ice cream to put on top of it.”

“You don’t need to do that, Mom.”

“Nonsense. I’ve already got pie filling put up. It’ll be no problem. And besides, Jessa just got her license. She’ll love an opportunity to drive.” She stuck her head out of the kitchen and yelled for her youngest daughter.

Riley got a beer for her and for Chris out of the fridge and passed her sister in the hall.

“I’m going to spill a glass of water on him at dinner so he has to take off his shirt, okay?”

Riley muffled her laugh with an indelicate snort and ruffled the head of long blonde curls. “No, that’s not okay.”

She joined Chris on the couch, taking the spot that Jessa had vacated, and curled up against him. His arm wound around her shoulders and he pressed a gentle kiss to her temple.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

It still took an effort to smile, but she did. “I’m getting there.”

He kissed her softly for just a moment and then sat back. Riley rested her head on his shoulder and he nodded politely to her father who was watching him as much as the game.

Several hours later they were back in his truck along with several Tupperware containers full of leftovers.

“You handled the parental questioning well over dinner.”

Chris nervously laughed. “It helps that I’m used to being cross-examined in court.”

“I’m sorry Jessa spilled a glass of water over on you.”

That got a more natural sounding laugh from him. “It was nice of your dad to offer me a shirt.”

Riley started giggling. “It’s not like he was going to let you sit there bare-chested in front of his wife and daughters.”

“Should I expect Jessa to knock something over on me every time I go to dinner at your parents’?”

“Probably. Also, I’m fairly sure Carly took a picture of your butt when you bent over to pick up the cat.” Her giggling died off as she realized what he said. “You mean you’re willing to go to another dinner with my family?”

“It sounds like the family Saturday supper is a bit of a tradition, right?”

Riley nodded.

“I won’t be able to go every Saturday because of work, but if I’m off duty and you decide you want to go to another one, I’d be happy to go with you.”

Riley kicked off her sandals and crossed her legs under her in the big seat. “You know something?”

“What’s that?” He glanced at her with a crooked eyebrow.

“I think you’re sweet on me, Officer.”

He grinned. “I think you’re right, Blue.”

She put her hand on the center console and he took it in his and gave it a kiss before holding it against his jaw.

“Now, where are you sleeping tonight? Am I taking you to my place or yours?”

“Well, that depends.”

“On what?”

“Do you have condoms at your place?”

Chris stared at her for a few seconds and then returned his attention to the road and got back in his own lane. “Seriously?”

Riley thought he sounded like he was getting strangled. “Yeah. I don’t have any so if you don’t we should probably stop at a store.”

“No, I’ve got some,” he quickly assured her. “What happened to your brain and your heart not being ready?”

“They got ready sometime between you disagreeing with my father about which team in the SEC was the best instead of kissing his ass and letting Carly beat you at cards.”

“She won the pot fair and square.”

She gave him the side-eye. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen anyone fold with three aces in their hand.”

“You peeked!”

“I was standing behind you rubbing your shoulders, gorgeous. It’s not like I was trying.” She tugged their joined hands over to her mouth and delicately licked his middle finger and then laughed when his entire body shivered.

He pulled his hand away. “You need to stop that, girl, or I’m gonna drive right off this road and into a tree.”

She smiled and folded her hands demurely in her lap. They listened to the music on the radio for a minute before Riley remembered something. “We have to stop at my place first.”

“Why’s that?”

“I need to change. The first panties you pull off of me are  _not_  gonna be granny panties!” 


	13. Chapter 13

Riley hugged the door and kept her hands in her lap the whole way back to Chris’s house. She had put on the cutest pair of panties she owned and it felt like she might as well have branded her ass with a scarlet A. It didn’t help that the little overnight bag sitting next to her feet seemed to be as large as an elephant. When they finally got back to Chris’s he helped her out of the cab, both hands on her waist, and let her slide down his body until her feet were firmly on the ground.

“You know we don’t have to do anything tonight, right?”

She stroked her hands over his broad shoulders as she nodded. “But I want to.”

He put one hand over hers and cupped her jaw with the other, his fingers separating around her ear. “If you change your mind, you tell me and I’ll stop whatever we’re doing.” He had ducked his head enough that he was looking her in the eyes.

“I will,” she leaned forward and brushed her lips along the edge of his jaw, “but I really don’t foresee any problems. I mean, unless, you’re like horrible in bed or something.”

Her attempt to keep a straight face was a total failure and he fastened his teeth on her bottom lip and tugged. Her giggle disappeared into a whimper and he growled, “Is that the way you want to play it, sugarbottom?”

“I think,” she paused as he kissed her again, “that we,” her nails dug into his shirt as he nuzzled back her hair and kissed the soft skin right below her ear, “should go inside.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” he murmured against the tender skin of her throat before licking a slow warm line back up to her jaw. “We should do that,” he said and kissed her again. He grabbed her bag from the floor of the cab and shut the door before taking her hand and leading her up the sidewalk to his front door.

It was dark inside his house but he didn’t bother turning on a light. He dropped her bag and then slid his hands around her waist. “Do you want a beer or something?”

In answer she popped the first button on his shirt open. Riley had been wondering what exactly he looked like without a shirt on since that first night when he had taken off his uniform shirt, leaving him in just a black undershirt. It had stretched so tight across his chest she could see his nipples, something that as a girl she tried to avoid, but on him it just made her want to pet him and see if those pectorals were as hard as they looked. She smiled up at him and he grinned.

“That’s a no on the beer, then?”

“I was sitting next to you at dinner, and I kept getting distracted by your forearms. With your sleeves rolled up like that, like you have veins and the muscles flex when you cut your food, and that is not supposed to be sexy, but it _is._ ” Her cheeks heated up at her confession. “So, now I want to see the rest of your arms too.” She undid another button.

She looked up at him through her lashes as her fingers moved to the third button. His grin just made her flush even more and then she giggled when he pulled his shirt from his jeans and yanked it off over his head. She tugged his t-shirt out of his jeans and slid her hands under the fabric, splaying her hands over her abs. “You’ve got a happy trail,” she whispered.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

She traced it with a fingertip until it disappeared into his jeans. “Oh, it’s a very happy thing.”

He grabbed his t-shirt behind his neck and pulled it off. Riley left her hands on his stomach as he dropped it to the floor.

“Well?” he asked, after she had stared at him for several seconds.

“It’s times in my life like this that I fall back on the wisdom of Emma Stone: It’s like you’re photoshopped!”

Chris clapped a hand to his chest as he laughed. “Riley, girl. You are a good for a man’s ego.”

“Seriously!” She ran a hand over his abs. “I have my grandma’s washboard in the cellar and it feels like jello compared to you.”

He popped open one of the buttons on her shirt. “Now you take off yours.”

“Again with the Emma Stone: No. No way. Not with all that going on. No thank you.”

“Who is Emma Stone and how do I get her out of your brain?”

“You seriously don’t know who Emma Stone is?”

He held out his hands and shrugged in a show of helpless innocence.

“Emma Stone is a goddess. You never saw _Crazy, Stupid, Love?_ ”

“Is that a chick flick?”

“ _Easy A_?”

“Is that a porno?”

She smacked him on the arm and then stopped as her mouth dropped open. With half a guilty look at him, she squeezed his bicep and then stepped back. “Oh. That’s just great. Your biceps are huge. Like, seriously, do you use steroids? Because if you do and your dick is shrunk to the size of one of those little pickles they stick toothpicks through on the top of fancy sandwiches, you need to tell me now so I can ratchet down my expectations.”

“You, darlin, do not need to worry about the size of my dick.” He pulled her close and let his hands fall to her ass. “You do not need to worry about anything.”

She stared at his chest for a few more moments. “Can we just make out for a bit? I suddenly feel nervous.”

“Of course. Can I ask you for a favor first?”

“What’s that?”

“Can I find out what kind of panties I get to take off of you tonight? My imagination is driving me to distraction.”

Riley snickered but then nodded. He stepped back as she unbuttoned her jeans.

“I only meant for you to tell me.”

“I know, but I want to show you. Besides, you know how much I like it when you grab hold.”

“Then by all means.” He sank down on the sofa as she unzipped and tried not to grin like a teenage boy getting his first glimpse of a naked girl as she shimmied the denim down her legs. She stepped out of them and then put her hands on her hips.

“Well?” she asked the floor in front of her.

Chris held out his hands. “Gimme.”

Riley looked up as she laughed. “You like?” She slowly twirled so he could see the back. The red lace cheekies showed off her ass quite nicely, she thought.

“Gimme,” he answered, his voice even lower than the first time.

She walked over to him and as soon as she was within touching distance his hands closed over the back of her legs right above her knees and slowly slid up her thighs, pulling her in between his legs. He leaned forward and nosed up the hem of her tank top so he could kiss her stomach, right below her navel, as he squeezed her ass.

He kissed her once more and then pulled her forward again. Riley grabbed the back of the sofa on either side of his head and straddled his thighs. He kept one arm locked around the back of her legs as he kissed her stomach, over her shirts this time, working his way up until he was pressing kisses to the underside of her breasts. Riley couldn’t breathe for a moment as the warmth of his body against her made her break out in gooseflesh. His hand kept stroking the back of her thigh, big and warm, but just like his kisses stopped on the lower curve of her breast, his hand stopped right as it brushed against the curve of her ass.

She reached behind and grabbed his hand and moved it onto her ass. Chris muffled his laughter against her breasts so she tugged his hair. “Something funny, Officer?”

“You, Riley. You’re very funny.” He grabbed her ass with both hands and pulled her downwards so she was nestled right against the fly of his jeans. “Is this better, Blue?” He pressed up against her as he dragged her hips along him.

She gasped and then nodded shakily.

“This what you want, darling? You want to kiss and rub against me and have me rub against you until you’re all soaked and can’t wait anymore?”

Her eyes were even bigger than normal when she nodded again.

“Good, because that’s what I want too.” His hand flew to the back of her head and he pulled her into a kiss that was like nothing else she’d ever felt before. His lips moved with a tender ferocity and his hand squeezed and kneaded her ass and she couldn’t stop touching him. His chest really was as big and hard as it had looked and he had the perfect amount of chest hair and she honestly _could not_ stop touching. She ran her hands over his arms, feeling the muscles flex as he touched her, letting the hair tickle against her palms, and then back up, over his shoulders, down his back. It was enough to make her head spin and that was without the way he kept her rocking against his groin and the feel of his mouth on her neck and throat, and the scrape of his teeth on her bottom lip.

She decided it was her turn to make his breathing erratic. She undid the buttons on her shirt and shrugged it off, letting it drop to the floor. A few more seconds and her tank top was on the floor as well.

“God, Riley,” he whispered as his hands slid up her sides and then slowly closed over her breasts. Her bra wasn’t anything fancy, just white with a little bit of a lace and a tiny bow in between the cups, but he treated it like it was the Holy Grail. “You’re beautiful.”

She didn’t want him to say anything else because the compliments embarrassed her so she kissed him. He pulled back and held her face in his hands. “You really are. You’re prettier than Emma Stone.”

“You don’t even know who she is.”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t have to know her to know that you’re more beautiful because to me, you’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

She leaned back in and kissed him softly. “You’re a sweet talker,” she whispered.

“May be, but it’s the truth.” He grabbed her ass. “Now hold on for a second.”

Riley grabbed his shoulders, thinking he was going to pick her up, but he turned and stretched out on the couch. Her hands slid from his shoulders to the couch cushion on either side of his head as she wiggled her legs into a comfortable position on either side of him.

“Now kiss me, Blue.”

She kissed him and they didn’t stop kissing. One of his hands stroked slowly up and down her spine while the other one kept rubbing her ass, grabbing a handful and squeezing. She could feel her bum heating up where he would grip her, and occasionally he would swap hands, making sure he was giving both of her cheeks the loving they needed.

She rocked against him in time with the speed of his hand rubbing up and down her back. He was getting hard from the constant friction and his hips were bucking up against her now with each grind of her hips. His hands moved to her hips, his thumbs spreading across her stomach, and he pulled her down harder, increasing the pressure he was applying to her groin. She would push her hips up and he would push them back, and oh, mercy, she knew he didn’t have a pickle in his pants. One of them monster zucchinis maybe, like you find three weeks after you thought you had gotten all of them off that plant, but definitely not a pickle.

“Chris,” she whined. “I think I’m close, baby.”

She thought he’d grabbed her ass before, but now both hands dug in and he stood up like she weighed nothing. No wonder he had abs like that. She hooked her legs around his waist and kept kissing on him as he walked and he kept squeezing her ass, lifting her and rubbing her against him as he lowered her again, over and over. She had never thought it was possible to get off by rubbing on someone’s abs, but she just might if he didn’t hurry.

He shifted her weight as he knelt on the bed and she opened her eyes as he lowered her to the blankets. She expected him to go right for her panties but he stretched out next to her and started kissing her again. Not that she minded because, she moaned as his hand closed over her breast and tugged the cup of her bra down, the boy could kiss. But then he stopped kissing her and began kissing her breast and he licked and sucked and it was like he’d discovered his new favorite candy. His teeth scraped over her nipple before he sucked in a mouthful of her and let her feel his teeth dragging over the soft flesh. The sweet sting of his teeth on her nipple again almost distracted her from the feel of his hand slipping inside her panties.

Almost, but not quite.

She lifted up against his hand as he cupped her and she sighed, a slow long release of breath that ended with her shuddering. He bent his fingers just a bit and she moaned and he stroked her, long slow strokes that teased and did nothing to build.

“Chris!” She bucked up against his hand and she could feel him smile against her breast. He had the other one out of the cup by now and was sucking and licking and kissing and all the while his hand kept stroking and stroking until she was squirming, pleading with him for more.

He slid one finger inside her and her eyes rolled back in her head. “Oh, god,” she moaned. That finger was like the first rays of sunlight after a night that had lasted for a month. He pulled it out and pressed it back in and they set a rhythm together, in and out, her lifting up her hips to take him deeper and then he pressed in a second finger and she swore under her breath.

He clucked at her. “Such language,” he teased and she smacked his arm.

“Just keep doing that.”

He rested his chin on her sternum and looked up at her as he crooked his fingers deep inside her. It took him a second but he found her g-spot and had to press his arm down on her stomach to keep her from coming off the bed. “You want me to keep doing this, Blue?”

“Uh-huh,” she managed to say as he kept rubbing that sweet spot. His smile seemed more predatory now than friendly and Riley grabbed ahold of the blanket by her hip as his thumb decided to join the party in her panties and brush over her clit.

Her capacity for conscious thought flew out the window at that point. He kept kissing and licking and sucking on her breasts and his hand was doing magic between her thighs and all she could do was hold on. He was big and solid and warm under her hand and it wasn’t until it wasn’t fingers digging in but fingernails that he removed her hand from his shoulder and held it against the mattress. She could feel it start, like a glowing light deep in her belly and it tingled and spread and her muscles went taut and her ass was off the bed, lifting, seeking, needing whatever it was he was offering, and all she could do was whine his name.

He abandoned her breasts to kiss her and then watch her face. “Come for me, Riley. Come undone for me.”

She nodded frantically and he kept watching her and then he did something with his thumb and her clit and she felt it release. Her eyes fell back and her mouth opened in a perfect O and Chris smiled.

“There’s my girl,” he whispered and she shattered like a mirror. It was like taking a warm bath in a tidal wave, and all she could do was tremble and shake and sink into the glow that emanated from her entire body.

She was still breathing heavy and enjoying the tingles when she felt his hands on her hips. Her panties were carefully tugged down her legs and she opened her eyes to see him kissing slowly back up the inside of her legs. She squeezed her thighs shut as his kisses went above her knees. “You don’t have to.”

“Are you kidding, darling? I am getting myself a piece of that pie.”

She dissolved into giggles at the grin he gave her and he spread her thighs open with his big hands. He may have wanted pie, but he sure took his time getting there. His mouth caressed every inch of her skin and his hot breath left tingles behind. Even when he got all the way to the apex of her thighs, he still teased, more breath than touch. She tried squirming to get him closer and he smacked her hip. “You stay still, baby.”

“How do you expect me to stay still with you doing that?” The last word crescendoed into a shriek as he chose that exact instant to lick her from bottom to top. He laughed against her pussy and grabbed her legs and placed them over his shoulders.

“Just try, Blue.” He licked her firmer this time, dipping in between her labia, but still avoiding her clit.

Riley grabbed for his head. His hair was too short to get a convincing hold on, but she cradled his head as he stopped teasing and started licking. He ate pussy like she was a melting ice cream cone, long firm licks that had her writhing no matter how hard she tried to stay still, and periodically he would swirl his tongue over her clit. It never failed to make her moan and as he kept going there was less melting and more sucking her clit like a lollipop. She shouldn’t have been surprised that he knew what to do with his lips down there considering how good he was everywhere else but you don’t expect a sex god to show up in your bed, no matter how many poorly directed pornos you may or may not have watched in your day. But he kept that little nub between his lips, suckling it and licking it and moaning as she ground her face against him. He finally grabbed her hip with one hand to keep her steady, but all the good of that was defeated when he slid a finger inside her.

She swore again and he just laughed and kept licking.

Riley could feel it building again. The swollen heat and pulsing need that he had his tongue on kept growing and growing. It tingled up her spine, prickled her skin, hardened her nipples. Then he slid another finger in and beckoned and she couldn’t help it. He knew exactly what to do to make her lose her mind and she let go of his head to grab a pillow and shove it over her face to muffle the cries that were coming out of her mouth with each rub of his fingers and flick of his tongue.

Chris reached up and yanked the pillow away. “Let me hear you, Riley. I want to hear every sound that comes out of that sweet mouth.”

She looked down to see him watching her and she could see the smile in his eyes as he sucked her clit back between his lips. He grabbed one of her breasts with his hand and she gave up holding back. He was licking and stroking and squeezing and the sounds of contentment he was making vibrated through her body and made her less self-conscious about the cries coming from her with every breath. He slowly accelerated the movements of his hands and mouth and her cries came faster and then he scraped his teeth over her clit and gave it a gentle tug and she cried out louder than before. Her pussy clenched around his fingers and he moaned and kept stroking her and it felt like it would never end, the waves of heat and light and stars that swept over her body and blurred her vision.

When she opened her eyes he was licking his fingers and she shivered and closed them again.

“I saw that, Blue.” She felt him press his fingers to her lips. “Want a taste? Most delicious thing I’ve ever had.”

Her eyes flew open at his pronouncement. She was expecting one of his grins but he was serious. She slowly opened her mouth and he pushed his fingers inside. He’d gotten most of her off of them already, but she could still taste herself as she swirled her tongue around the two fingers.

“Have you never tasted yourself, darlin?” he asked as he pulled his fingers out of her mouth.

She shook her head and he bent down to kiss her. Her flavor was stronger on his lips and while she still preferred mud cake, she guessed it wasn’t too bad.

“You are delicious, Riley. Don’t you ever doubt that.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“I know so.” He stretched out over the top of her and smiled. “You having a good time so far?”

She giggled. “Yes, Officer.”

“You all done or you want to keep going?”

“I definitely want to keep going.”

“Good,” he grinned, “because so do I.”

He rolled off of her and climbed off the bed. She watched him grab a condom packet out of his bedside drawer and tear it open with his teeth before tossing it on the bed. He began undoing his jeans and Riley looked away and began to unfasten her bra while she wasn’t looking at him. She took it off and folded it carefully before setting it to the side.

“Riley?”

“Yeah?”

“Something wrong, sugarbottom?”

She giggled at the absurd nickname and looked at him.

And looked at him some more.

It was definitely not a pickle. It was thick and long and the most perfect reddish pink and it stood straight out from him. That happy trail definitely headed to a happy destination. She scratched her head as she realized she was staring but couldn’t stop.

Chris crossed his arms over his chest and laughed. “My eyes are up here.”

Riley didn’t even bother looking up. “I know, but have you seen what you have down there?”

All he did was laugh in response before he got back on the bed. Riley held out her arms to him and he crawled right into them and knocked her over, stroking her hair back from her face as she wrapped her arms and legs around him. “You are so beautiful, Riley.”

She gently touched his face, tracing his cheekbones and the line of his jaw and across his brow. “I’m really glad I got that flat tire.”

 “Me too.”

It suddenly hurt to breathe. All of her feelings knotted up and clogged her chest where her lungs should have been. “Thank you for getting sweet on me.”

“I can honestly say it’s been my pleasure.” He kissed the bruise on the side of her mouth and then kissed her lips. She kissed him in return and they didn’t stop. It was a hundred little kisses, to foreheads and cheeks and eyelids and chins, each one a wordless promise. His hand stroked down her side, tracing the curve of her breast, the softness of her waist, the swell of her hip. Her ankles were linked on the small of his back and as he scraped his teeth over her bottom lip, she felt him hard against her belly as they rocked together.

He kept playing with her hair while they kissed, wrapping locks of it around his fingers, combing it away from her face, holding a handful and tilting her face so he could kiss her throat. All they while their breathing was enough to keep him hard as it rubbed between their stomachs. Finally, Riley couldn’t wait anymore.

“Chris, I want you inside me. I _need_ you inside me.”

His eyes darkened and he kissed her once more before sitting back on his heels and reaching for the condom. He rolled it on with one slick movement and leaned over her again. His fingers threaded through her hair as he reached between their bodies and grabbed his cock to position it.

“Are you sure –,”

She grabbed his head in both hands and kissed him to shut him up. “Yes, I’m sure.”

He grinned and then kissed her sweet and sure as he pressed slowly inside her. Riley stopped kissing as he pushed deeper and deeper, just breathing Chris in as his mouth hovered over hers. She heard him groan as he seated himself completely inside her and she squirmed a bit, adjusting to him being inside her. It was just the perfect amount of stretch to set all her nerves tingling.

Chris stroked the hair back from her face. “You okay, Riley?”

“Mmmmm-hmmmm.” She gave him a beatific smile and he kissed her.

She had thought before had been good, but that had been without him so close to her, without being able to kiss him and the weight of him pressing against her and the feel of him so big and strong looming over her. It made her just want to cling to him, and the way he was moving did nothing to discourage that desire. He started out slow and gentle, but as she began to move with him, he went faster, thrusting harder, kissing deeper. A few drops of sweat appeared on his chest and forehead. Riley tightened her legs around his waist, and it changed the angle he was pushing into her. She cried out and he bit her shoulder.

“Is that it, Riley? Am I hitting it right where you want?”

She nodded and he thrust even harder, making her cry out again.

“You are so fucking wet, darlin. You feel so damn good.”

She thought about teasing him about language but she couldn’t care. She could hear how wet she was, and as he kept hitting her g-spot with every thrust, she felt a new rush of wetness coat him.

“Damn, baby.”

“Chris!”

He shifted his weight so he was supporting himself on one hand and sought out her clit with the other one. She spasmed at the first touch.

“You are so ready baby, so ready to come for me,” he murmured against her throat.

He kept surging into her and she grabbed his back, trying to hold onto something that would keep her steady against the force building inside her. Her vision started to go grey around the edges and she choked out his name one more time.

His fingers rubbed gently over her swollen clit and he bit her bottom lip. “Come for me, Riley. I’ll be right behind you.”

Her eyes flew open and she fixed on his face. His eyes were dark with barely a ring of blue around them, but she felt like they were glowing as well. His hips tremble against her thighs and she let her head fall back. His warm mouth closed over the pulse in her throat as he scraped his thumbnail against her clit. It was a sweet little pain and her nails dug into his back as she bowed up off the bed.

“Oh, there we go. There’s my beautiful girl,” he murmured against her ear. Her entire body went taut and he held her tightly as he continued to thrust into her. She began to tremble and he wrapped his hand around the back of her head to hold her steady as his own control slipped from his grasp. He threw his head back as he took the final few thrusts he needed.

Riley opened her eyes to see his mouth hanging open and the prominent tendons in his neck as he strained after his release. His eyes were shut so she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him close enough to bite his earlobe.

He swore but she felt him thicken and throb and then the pulse of his release as she suckled his tender earlobe.  She stayed wrapped around him until long after he was finished and he rested his head on her chest.

Finally, he withdrew and turned away to deal with the condom. That done he crawled back over to her and collapsed. His head was pillowed on one breast and his hand covered the other. “Mmmmm, comfortable.”

Riley giggled, causing her chest to shake. He turned his head so he could look at her. “You look good in my bed.”

“Good, because I don’t think my legs work anymore so I can’t go anywhere else.” She slowly stroked his hair and his eyelids sagged under the caresses.

She thought he had fallen asleep when he said, “Did you really think you were going to get out of it that easy?”

“Out of what?” Visions of Colt whining popped into her head.

“Me making love to you again.” He opened his eyes and smiled up at her.

She smiled back at him. “Oh, is that what’s going to happen now?”

He squeezed her breast and pressed a kiss to her sternum. “That’s my plan, if you’re up for it, that is.”

She stroked her hands over his shoulders and back. “Oh, I am definitely up for that.”

He kissed the curve of her breast. “Good. But first,” he smiled up at her wickedly, “I’m gonna get me another piece of pie.”


	14. Chapter 14

Riley leaned against the headboard as she sipped her coffee. “I’m fairly certain I’m not gonna make it to church this morning,” she told Chris who was stretched across the foot of the bed,

“What makes you think that?”

She looked at the clock sitting on his nightstand. “Well, it starts in three minutes and all I’m wearing is your shirt and a smile. I haven’t even showered yet.”

“You don’t need a shower.”

“Yes I do. I smell like sweat and sex and you.”

“I like it.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and made her laugh.

“You do, but Jesus might not be so fond of it.”

“Fine. Go get your sweet ass in the shower, even though you still won’t make it to church today.”

Riley took another swallow of her coffee and put the mug down on his nightstand before slipping off the bed. She sauntered past him into the bathroom and he watched her walk by, falling onto his back to keep his eyes on her rear.

She’d been in the shower for a few minutes when she heard the glass door click open. “I was starting to think you weren’t going to join me.”

He pressed up against her back and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Just giving you some girl time.”

“What do you think I’m doing in here, baking a cake?”

“I don’t know. Women are beautiful and mysterious creatures. I’m just here to worship.” His hands slid up and cupped her breasts, squeezing her nipples between his fingers.

The water didn’t seem nearly as hot as it had a few seconds earlier. She could already feel him hardening against her, and he was starting to rub, sliding his cock against the cleft in her bum and she twisted her head so she could see him. “We gonna have our own little church service right here?”

“I bet I can make you talk to God.” He cupped her mound with his hand, his fingers sliding against her labia. He drank in her moan as he kissed her. “I’ll have you talking in tongues.”

He wrapped his hand around the side of her neck, his fingers splaying against her jaw to keep her face tilted towards him as he pressed a finger inside her.

She saw God three times before the water went cold.

***

 

Riley’s shriek echoed down the hall and Chris charged to the living room to find her standing naked with a pair of panties in her hand and Bandit fleeing the scene of the crime. Her open overnight bag was at her feet.

“You need to talk to your dog about places it is  _not_  okay to stick his cold wet nose!”

“He was just trying to say hello.”

“Well, teach him to talk then because that’s the second time he’s nosed me in the bare bum and I am not a dog.”

“You know,” Chris slid his hands around her waist and pressed up against her, “you don’t have to put those panties on if you don’t want to.”

“Is this ‘I don’t have to’ or ‘it would be a waste of time to because you’re just going to take them off of me in ten minutes’?”

He cheerfully shrugged and both his hands slid to her ass.

“Bandit takes after you. Neither one of you can resist my bare butt.”

“I can’t resist your sweet ass period. Clothed or not I need to touch it.”

Riley decided a bit of turnabout was fair play so she dropped her panties back in her bag and then grabbed his butt and squeezed. “So if I don’t have panties on, why do  _you_  have panties on?”

One of his eyebrows arched at her in what she thought he meant to be a reproving manner but just intensified his sexiness. “These are  _not_ panties.”

“Okay, mister manly man. Why are you wearing macho manpants then?”

Chris laughed and smacked her ass. “I was going to put jeans on too, but I got distracted by you yelping out here.”

“I think you should take them off.”

“I think  _you_ should take them off.”

Riley raised an eyebrow and then started kissing her way slowly down his neck. He’d taken his own sweet time exploring her last night and she wanted to have that same luxury right now. His chest was like a monument to…she didn’t even know what, but it was something good and hard and lovely. She traced her fingers over his chest hair, mapping the cowlick on his right pectoral, licking his skin, scratching over his nipples. He groaned at the touch and she dropped to her knees as she kissed his navel and ran her hands down his thighs. He shifted his weight from side to side as she kissed down the v lines that demarcated his torso from his hips and she felt his fingers weave their way into her hair.

Riley nuzzled the front of his boxer briefs before hooking her fingers in the waistband.

Chris caught her hands and held them still. “You really don’t have to do that. I was just teasing you, darlin.”

“But I want to.

He crooked his head to the side as she licked her lips. “I thought you didn’t like doing it.”

Riley sat back on her heels and Chris let go of her hands. “Do you know how many times Colt went down on me?”

Chris shook his head and Riley formed her fingers into a zero and peered through it at him. “I don’t mind giving head. I mind being expected to give head after he’s told me he refuses to go down on girls because he doesn’t like the taste.”

“Further proof that he’s an idiot.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a situation in your shorts I need to take care of.”

She returned her attention to his boxer briefs and slowly tugged them down enough to free his cock. He wasn’t fully erect yet and she wrapped her hand around the shaft and gently stroked it, relishing the feel of him hardening in her palm. She rubbed her cheek against his length before kissing the base and slowly working her way up. She licked her lips again and let her tongue flick against him before swirling her tongue around the crown. That earned her a soft groan.

Riley looked up at Chris to find him watching her with an unnerving intensity.

“I, uh, haven’t done this in a while, so feel free to like…give suggestions or stuff.”

“You’re doing perfect so far.”

She went back to kissing and licking, getting used to the feel of him and the scent of him, subtle and fresh from the shower. When she finally wound her tongue around the tip and sucked him into her mouth, he groaned and his hand tightened in her hair. It didn’t take long for her to set up a steady rhythm though she had to remember how to relax her jaw more than she was used to doing to keep her teeth out of the way.

Chris was a very nice blowjob recipient. He held her head but didn’t shove it around. He didn’t try and make her gag. He was vocal in his appreciation. She hated guys who were quiet the whole time. His deep maple syrup voice was even more delicious than normal when all he could do was groan and occasionally swear. Riley found herself watching him, and he was even more beautiful than she had thought possible from this angle as his thick eyelashes and lush lips added an unexpected softness to his square jaw.

His hand closed over hers as it moved over his shaft, teaching her the pressure he liked as it twisted up and down the hard length, gliding along the tender skin slicked with her own saliva. He let go of her hand and slid his fingers into her hair again. She cupped his balls in her other hand, rolling them in her palm as she sucked and felt them tighten against his body as his cock throbbed.

“I’m gonna come,” he warned her and she just moaned in response.

The sound vibrated through his cock and his eyes sagged shut for a moment. She braced one hand on his thigh as he helplessly thrust into her mouth, his shaft throbbing on her tongue. His cock swelled and his fingers tightened painfully in her hair as she felt the first pulse of his release fill her mouth. She swallowed and he grunted with his next thrust. It drove her hand against her lips as she kept him from choking her in his ecstasy. She swallowed again and again and the movement of her tongue and soft palate working together to squeeze the last drops from him left him shaking.

He pulled himself from her mouth with a shudder and collapsed onto the couch. “God, Riley. I love you.”

Riley paused in the act of wiping the back of her hand over her mouth. “Ummm, thanks?”

He jolted upright and rubbed his head a few times. “Oh, damn. That’s probably the worst way in the world for me to say that for the first time.”

She suddenly felt cold and her stomach knotted into a little ball. “Well, I can think of some that would be worse, but it’s definitely not making the top ten list of most romantic ways either.”

She grabbed her bag and rifled through it for her clothes only to find Chris kneeling in front of her. He slid the bag away and claimed her hands. “I love you, Riley. I’ve fallen fast and hard for you. You don’t need to say it right now or anything like that, but me fucking up how I told you doesn’t make it a lie.”

Riley hugged herself and Chris stroked up and down her arms. “I like you a lot, Chris. I’m not ready to say that though. Not if I’m being honest.”

“That’s fine. You have a lot of emotional things happening in your life right now. Just, you know,” he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly, “let me know if that status changes, okay?”

Riley smiled and nodded, not quite able to look him in the eyes. “Now, I’m going to put some clothes on and then we’ll figure out what to do for the rest of the day.”

“I’ve got some ideas for what we can do,” Chris drawled. “And you won’t even need to put clothes on for them.”

She swatted playfully at his arm and he caught her hand and pulled her tightly against his chest. Neither one of them got dressed for several more hours.


	15. Chapter 15

Riley’s fingers were shaking as she dialed Chris’s phone number. He had moved back to an eight to four shift like normal this week so she knew he should still be on shift. Her fingers drummed nervously on the steering wheel as she waited for him to answer.

“Hey Blue. You back from school?”

“Yeah. You still on duty?”

“For another hour.”

“Good. Then I’d like to report a crime.” Her voice started shaking.

“Are you okay?”

“The front window on my house is busted and the front door is standing open and I’m scared to go inside.”

“You stay out of there. I’m on my way.”

She heard his sirens turn on and him calling for backup as she hung up the phone. Her hand was still shaking as she called her brother.

“Hey, Riley. What’s up?”

“Can you take off work for the rest of the afternoon?”

“You okay?”

“Someone broke into my house.”

“Call the cops. I’ll be right there.”

“I already did. And thanks.”

A few minutes later she heard the police cars arriving. One pulled in from either end of the block and came to a sudden stop in front of her house. One was Chris. She recognized Jackson in the other vehicle. Chris approached her car and she unlocked the door on the passenger side for him. He opened it, said, “Hup! Guard Riley!” and Bandit jumped into the front seat. He shut the door again and he and Jackson moved in tandem up the front walk with their guns drawn. They disappeared through the broken front door and Riley nervously clutched Bandit. He licked her face once and then rested his head on her shoulder.

Another cop car pulled up and the officer immediately headed into the house, pausing in the doorway long enough to yell to the other ones inside to alert them. A minute after that, Brandon parked on the other side of the street and hurried to her car. Riley rolled down the window as Brandon squatted next to her little vehicle.

“When did you get a dog?”

“This is Chris’s K-9 companion. His name’s Bandit.”

Brandon reached a hand in to pet him and Bandit growled. Brandon yanked his hand back and looked at Riley.

“Sorry. Chris told him to guard me and um,” she scratched behind her ear, “I don’t know how to turn that setting off.”

“Well, then I’ll just keep my hands to myself until Chris tells him I’m a friend.”

Riley leaned her head against the door frame. “Thank you for coming.”

“You think Colt did this?”

“Pretty sure. He would have been arraigned this morning. His daddy probably got him out on bail.”

“Have you gone inside yet?”

“No. I wasn’t sure if he was still in there so I just called Chris.”

“Listen, punkinhead, I’m really sorry for not listening to you. I was so excited about my best friend and my little sister getting married that I got mad at you for breaking it off, rather than ask why you broke it off. I shouldn’t have believed Colt, and I was wrong. I was sorry.”

“Wow. I think that may be the first time you apologized to me ever. And that includes over the Barbie debacle when I was nine.”

“Well, you know.” He looked down at the ground. “I probably shouldn’t have used your Barbies as target practice for my future career as a sniper, but you have to admit, I had a pretty good aim with a bb gun for a twelve year old.”

She ruffled his hair, trying to fix the hat hair his hardhat had given him. He must have been on site today. “Mom was seriously considering taking you to a mental health center to make sure you weren’t a budding serial killer when she found them in the backyard.”

Brandon laughed. “Dad sat me down and threatened to not let me get a hunting license until I was eighteen if I ever shot anything besides tin cans ever again.”

“Good for him. And I’m glad you’re not a sniper.” She patted his arm a few times. “I would worry about you.”

“I should have been worrying more about you for the last little bit it seems.”

Another car pulled up and parked behind Brandon’s truck. Riley looked at her brother. “You called Mom?”

“Yeah. Your family is going to smother you a bit to make up for lost time. We should settle back to normal sometime next year.”

Riley’s mom pushed Brandon out of the way. “Are you okay, honey?”

“So far. All I’ve done is sit here and wait.”

“When did you get a dog?”

Brandon kept her from reaching into the car. “That’s Chris’s K-9 unit. He’s on guard so don’t touch him.”

Riley was spared from having to convince her mom not to take it personally by the three officers coming back out of her house with their guns holstered. Brandon opened her car door and Riley got out, her hands shaking again, with Bandit climbing over the center console to stay right on her heels.

Chris hugged her and didn’t let her go. “How bad is it?” she asked.

“It’s bad.”

“I want to see.”

“I don’t think you do, Riley.”

“No. I need to see. I need to see what he did.”

He held her chin between his thumb and forefinger and she stared up at him defiantly. “Just don’t touch anything, okay? We called a forensics unit and they’re on their way.”

“I won’t.”

She stopped in the doorway when she saw the mess of the living room. Furniture was overturned. The lamp was broken. The television screen was shattered. The family pictures had been knocked off the mantle. She walked in a trance through her house. Nothing had been spared. The tablecloth looked like someone had taken a knife to it. The dishes were laying in pieces on the floor. The cupboards had been emptied and shattered jars of tomato sauce gave the room a bloody look. She took one look at her bedroom and turned away, not understanding the rage that could turn a space they had once shared into that kind of chaos. Not having the courage to see what he had done to her grandmother’s room, she looked in the bathroom. It had been similarly destroyed. Every single one of her cosmetics had been thrown in the tub. The shower was still running. “You’re going to pay for this bitch!” was written on the shattered mirror in her favorite shade of lipstick. She rubbed her mouth until she got off all of the color.

Overwhelmed, she went out into the backyard to find a moment’s peace, only to realize too late that the broken door meant that he had been out here too. Every single plant in her garden had been uprooted and trampled. She clapped a hand over her mouth as she heaved and ran for the fence line, managing to get there and use it to hold her upright as she vomited up her lunch. The breeze rubbed an empty rock salt bag against her ankle. She stared at it in confusion and then dawning realization sent her running to her garden. The cop who had been following her through the house to guarantee she didn’t touch anything called for Chris as she crumpled to the ground and started sobbing.

Riley found herself being scooped off the ground and held tightly while she got the rest of the tears out. Only once she looked up did she realize it wasn’t Chris holding her. “He salted the garden, Brandon. He got me fired, he destroyed my house and he salted my garden.”

“Do you know where he might be?” Chris asked, and Riley looked over to see him hovering over her.

“No.”

“I meant Brandon.”

“No. If I did I’d be on my way there to beat the shit out of him. We haven’t talked in a couple months. Things got awkward after him and Riley split up and we drifted apart.”

Chris rubbed a hand over his short hair. “Well, we have an APB out on him. We’ll find him and he’ll go back to jail. Hopefully his father will get tired of bailing him out soon.”

Officer Turner walked up and said, “Your mom’s having a crying fit in the house.”

“I’ll go take care of her,” Brandon said.

“Your face is healing up pretty good, Riley,” Jackson said.

“Thanks, Jackson. We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” she managed to say with a lopsided smile.

He grinned. “Once things calm down a bit you should invite me out for dinner. I’ve got all sorts of stories about our boy here I can tell you.”

Chris shoved Jackson. “Don’t you dare!”

“Crime Scene should be here in a few minutes. You two should finish it up out here.” He strolled back into the house, leaving the two of them alone.

Riley sagged against Chris’s chest as he held her and she smiled when Bandit head-butted her knee.

“Come home with me.”

Riley’s head snapped up. “No!”

“Why not? You can’t stay here.”

“Because I have no job, no house, no food, no way to grow food, no way to buy food, and if I went home with you right now it would be way too easy to just stay there and let you love me but I can’t do that. I’m going to get back on my feet.”

“So where are you going to stay tonight?”

She scuffed her feet against the grass. “I think I’m going to move home for a bit.”

Both eyebrows reached for the sky. “You’re going to move back in with your parents?”

“I still have my room there. Mom won’t mind and Dad never liked me living by myself anyway. It’ll give me some time to kind of start over with them and a roof over my head and food on the table. And if she won’t take me, Brandon will let me sleep on his couch for a few days until I figure something out.”

“I can understand why you’re doing this even if I don’t like it. You coming to stay for a bit doesn’t mean you’re moving in, but I understand your point of view. Just don’t forget I love you, okay? If you need anything, night or day, you have my phone number.”

“I’ll call you. I promise.” She snuggled into his chest again and he held her until they heard more car doors opening out front.

Chris kissed her on the forehead. “Now, I have to go be a police officer for a while longer. Can I take you out for supper this evening? Say 6:30?”

“I don’t know if I feel like being around a bunch of people right now, Chris.”

“Then I know just the place.”

>< 

Riley stared up at the stars overhead. “It seems so much longer than ten days since we came up here for the first time.”

Chris handed her a piece of mud cake and a fork. They’d already finished dinner. “A lot’s happened in ten days.”

“Some good, some bad.”

“Do you regret getting the restraining order?”

Riley gnawed on her lip for a while as she thought. “No, I don’t think so. I mean, it released a shit storm of epic proportions, but he’s been working up to this for a while. Sooner or later this was going to happen, and this way, the police knew what was going on before he did something super drastic.” She shrugged. “The restraining order just gives you guys one more thing to put him in jail for, and the more things he can be arrested for, the better, right?”

“You amaze me, Blue. Your life has been blown apart and you can still see the silver lining of the storm clouds.”

She blushed and took a bite of cake. “I think it’s the mud cake. It’s what’s keeping me stable this last week. All the mud cake I’ve eaten.”

“Just the mud cake?”

She giggled. “Oh, right. And Bandit of course.”

Chris stuck his bottom lip out in a pathetic pout and she laughed at him. He grinned and lunged for her and she barely got her plate safely out of tackle range before he had her pinned under him. “Mud cake and Bandit?”

“And you,” she said breathlessly. His lips pressed against her throat and he left warm, open-mouthed kisses down her neck and onto her collarbone.

“I feel like all I’ve done is destroy your life since we met.” His thumb brushed over the bruise spreading from the side of her mouth. “I will buy you all the mud cake you want as long as you don’t throw me out with the trash.”

She scratched her nails gently over his head until he was smiling again and making noises that resembled a cat purring so greatly that Bandit snuck over to investigate. “You are not the trash, Chris,” she said after he got Bandit settled back on the tailgate with his bone.

“I feel awful about what’s happened.”

“And none of it is your fault.” She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down so they were stretched out next to each other in the back of his truck. “Now, I’m going to kiss you until you feel better.”

He smiled at her and his hand settled on her hip. “That sounds like a good plan.”

It didn’t stop with just kissing. Bandit hopped down off of the truck and went exploring after a while to give the two of them some privacy as kisses turned into hands sliding under clothes and jeans getting unzipped.

“Please tell me you have a condom,” she whimpered as his fingers stroked in and out of her.

“Two,” he whispered against her ear before he sucked the lobe into his mouth.

“Thank God, because as much as I love your hands and mouth, that’s not what I want right now.”

They both started laughing as they tried to get the rest of their clothes off without coming out from under the blanket into the cold night air but the laughter faded as Chris settled between her thighs and started stroking the tip of his cock against her clit. Her eyes rolled back as he sank into her and he shuddered as he came to a rest, completely enveloped in her body.

Riley squeezed her legs around his hips and held him still. “Before we go any further,” she started.

He chuckled and nipped at her bottom lip. “I don’t think I can go any further, Blue.”

She pinched his ass and he laughed. “Hush for a minute. Before you start moving and I lose the capacity for thought and speech, I want to say something.”

“What’s that?”

“I love you.”

He swallowed loudly and then broke into a grin. “Say it again.”

“I love you, Christopher. When I came home today and saw that mess, all I wanted was you. I knew you would make it all better, and not because you’re a cop. Because you’re you. And I love you.”

“I love you too, Riley.”

“I know.”

“I’m going to make love to you until you can’t see straight now, if that’s alright with you.”

His smile was met with an answering one from her. “Please.”

He rubbed his lips against her jaw and nipped softly at the skin. “Say it again.”

She smiled as she rubbed her hips up against him. “Please,” she whimpered.

He laughed. “The other thing.”

Riley felt the heat rising in her cheeks as she kissed him. “I love you, Chris.”

“I love you, too.”

>< 

Late that night, Riley walked into her old bedroom in her parents’ house and found a stack of clothes and a pair of boots sitting on the foot of her bed with a note on top. “I know you don’t have anything right now but what you’re standing up in, so I went to the store while you were out to dinner. It’s just some basics, a few pairs of jeans and some shirts, a few bras and new underwear. I got some cute ones so you won’t mind if that boy of yours sees them. A new mascara too. I figure your sisters have an entire Sephora between the two of them so you can steal whatever else you need from them and they won’t even notice anything is missing. I’ll take you shopping for whatever else you might want later this week. I’m real sorry for the circumstances of you coming home, honey, but I love having you back in the house. Someday, hopefully you can forgive all of us for the mess we made of the last year of your life. Love, Mom.”

She found a nightgown in the stack and slipped it on and then curled up in bed with Grumpkin the bear who had kept the monsters at bay since she was four years old and cried herself to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Riley sat on the sofa in the formal living room, her legs stretched over Chris’s lap. The furniture was stiff and uncomfortable, but no one ever used this room. Her mother’s note aside, she knew that she was not allowed to actually take Chris up to her bedroom, so they cuddled the best they were able on the pristine turquoise sofa. His arm was stretched along the back of the couch and she rested her head on it.

“How was your day?” He wound her hair around her finger as he watched her face.

She shrugged. “I met the insurance adjuster at the house. I’ve got $1,000 deductible on the policy but she said that all the damage should be covered, even taking out the top foot of soil in the garden and replacing it.”

“Well that’s good. Will they cover all the furniture and stuff like that too?”

“At least some of it. A lot of what Grandma had was old, so she wants an antique appraiser to come in and valuate some of it. She didn’t have any…riders I think they’re called, so if something was like twenty grand or something, she won’t be able to give full value, but she might be able to increase the overall payout.”

Jessa walked into the room, plopped down in an armchair, and kept texting.

Riley waited a few seconds to see what she was up to, but the girl didn’t even look at them. She smiled at Chris and then said, “Jessa.”

The blonde head of curls remained studiously bent over her phone. “What?”

“Go away.”

Jessa laughed and left the room.

“Sorry about that,” Riley said, just as the front door burst open. Carly took two steps into the front hall, saw them both sitting there and flopped down in the chair Jessa had just vacated, dumping her backpack, a dufflebag, and a tennis racket on the floor.

“Thank God you are here, Riley.”

“What’s going on?”

“Only like _everything_.”

Riley kept her smiling on the reassuring end of the spectrum. It wasn’t that long ago that she had come home every day after school feeling like every decision in the universe was weighing on her shoulders. “Everything?”

“Coach Roberts wants me to work on my backhand. I know matches don’t start for like four more months but this is my last year and I swear I am going to state this year. Of course, that means I have to fit in more tennis practice around volleyball practice because my serve has been off lately and I am not serving it into the net in front of Marcus ever again.”

“Who’s Marcus?”

“OOOooooh, Marcus,” she swooned, literally clasping her hands together over her heart. “He’s this exchange student from France and he’s gorgeous and you _have_ to help me come up with a way to ask him to winter formal.”

“Shouldn’t he be asking you?” Chris suggested.

Carly’s nostrils flared with derision as she looked at Chris like he was wearing the opposing team’s colors on game day. “You’re old. Girls can ask guys to dances now.”

“Carly!”

“What? I can totally ask him to the dance. I need to before someone else does. Oh, and do you remember your calculus class?”

Oh, lord, calculus? She remembered that she had taken calculus. Did that count? “Uh, vaguely…”

“Good,” Carly carried on as if she had claimed a perfect memory of every page of the text book. “Because I need some help with my homework. I’m losing my mind with this new find the function of the x when it’s thrown out the window of a car speeding along the y axis at the sin of the tangent of Taylor Swift’s ass.”

Chris’s laugh was even louder than Riley’s. “You better not let Mom hear you talking like that.”

“I know. But after dinner, do you think you could look at my homework and see if you can explain it better than Ms. Johnson?”

Riley’s eyes narrowed as she looked at her genius little sister. “Does Marcus sit next to you in calculus?”

“Yeah, why?”

“That’s half your problem. I’ll help you tonight, but tomorrow sit somewhere that you can’t see him. Ms. Johnson is a good teacher and you’re smart.”

Carly rolled her eyes and made a sound of disgust. “When did you get so boring?”

“When I started paying for my own education.”

Her scorn melted away. “Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that.” She took a deep breath and launched to her feet. “Okay, so like, me, you, calculus, after dinner, okay? I have to go call Bettina.”

With that she disappeared, leaving her bags in a pile on the floor and Chris mouthing, “Bettina?”

Riley shook her head as the whirlwind of Carly’s enthusiasm settled back to normal. “Do you have siblings?”

“Three sisters and a brother.”

“And are you the youngest?”

“No, ma’am.”

“So this is somewhat familiar to you.”

“Yes.” He leaned over and kissed her before someone else interrupted. “I’ll just have to get used to sneaking kisses from you when I’m over here.”

“I know this can't be the way you want to be dating.”

“If this is the way I get to date you, then this is the way I want to be dating.”

They were kissing when Riley’s mom pointedly cleared her throat, jolting the two of them apart. “Are you going to be staying for supper, Chris?”

“I couldn’t impose like that, ma’am.”

“Nonsense. I still cook for half a dozen more people than are coming. When Riley was in high school there wasn't practically a night went by that I didn’t have at least two of her friends, if not more, staying for supper.”

“If you’re sure, ma’am.”

“I am sure. And none of that ma’am stuff. Just call me mom.”

Riley flung herself back against the sofa. “Mom!”

“What? Every single one of the people my four children have brought home either in friendship or lust has ended up calling me mom. It’s what I answer to.”

“Then yes, I will be staying for supper, Mom.” Chris nudged Riley in the side as he called her that.

She smiled and nodded. “Good. It’s always nice to have men around to feed. Carly and Jessa both just pick at everything.”

After her mom left, Riley sighed. “Do you want me to call Brandon so there’s another male at the table?”

“I’m used to this. Three sisters, remember. And you met my mom.”

She buried her face in her hands. “Don’t remind me.”

“At least I’ve managed to keep my jeans on in front of yours.”

Riley grabbed a throw pillow and hit him with it. He confiscated her pillow with a laugh and dropped it on the carpet. “I have something I want to show you.”

“What?”

He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. “I know you’re determined to get back on your feet by yourself, but I saw this and thought you might want to take a whack at it.”

Riley unfolded the paper and smoothed it out. It was a job posting for a part-time temporary position with the police department as a GIS programmer.

“I know it’s not permanent but at least it’s a job, right? And I can’t guarantee you’d get it. There would be interviews, but I remember you said that’s the program you use for the Tennessee speckled grass or whatever it was.”

“Yellow-eyed grass,” she murmured without looking up. Her eyes were still reading through the qualifications and her stomach was churning as she realized she met all of them. “Did you put someone up to this? Why is the police department hiring a GIS programmer?”

“That state drug crime commission shook loose some money for each major policing area to build a GIS thing so that we can look at the different socioeconomic and geographic factors leading to drug use and arrests by drug type and other stuff. The job posted yesterday and they’ll be interviewing until they find someone they like.”

She read through the job announcement again, looking for a drawback and she couldn’t find one. “This would solve a lot of problems for me in the short term, if it can be flexible around my classes. It can’t hurt to try, right?”

Chris nodded. “I swear I didn’t have anything to do with it. But, I’m just warning you, if you do get it, I’m totally going to flirt with you at work.”

“Oh god. Well, I guess this way I’ll get to hear all your friends’ stories about you, right?”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. Maybe you should give me that back.”

She held it away from him with a grin. “Try and take it.”

He tried, and the paper ended up on the floor and she ended up stretched out next to him on the sofa, kissing and cuddling and feeling much better about the way her day was going than she had hammering plywood over the broken windows of her home.

“Dinner in five minutes,” her mom called from the kitchen.

Riley started giggling against Chris’s chest.

“What’s so funny, Blue?”

“You just got the five minute boner warning.”

“The what?” Chris asked in disbelief as he stood up and smoothed down his shirt.

“The first time Brandon and his girlfriend were making out and he came to the dinner table with a boner from it, Mom sat him down after Shelley had left and said from now on, she would give him a five minute warning and it was his responsibility to get his erection to go away before coming to the table, because while she was not ignorant about what they were getting up to in the parlor, she did not need the evidence of his shenanigans promenading around the dining room.”

Chris grabbed his chest as he laughed. “Did she actually call it a ‘boner warning’?

Riley stood and stretched before running her fingers through her hair to smooth it back into place. “I don’t think so. That’s what Brandon called it when he passed down the warning the first time I brought a boy home for supper.”

“And have you passed the boner warning down to Carly yet?”

“No. If she asks that Marcus out, I may have to, though.” She wiped her thumb against his mouth to remove the smudges of her lipgloss.

“I think your mom and my mom would be friends.”

Riley’s eyes widened and she froze like a deer in the spot lights. “Woah there, buddy. The mothers are not meeting any time soon.”

“I know. I just meant that your mom reminds me of mine. That’s a compliment to your mother, by the way.”

“Okay, I’m not thinking about your mom anymore.” She gently shoved him towards the hall. “Let’s go eat.”

They were almost through supper when Chris’s phone rang. He checked it and then apologized. “I have to take this. It’s work.” He patted her shoulder as he got up.

Riley’s eyes followed him as he left the dining room and she pushed the food around on her plate until he came back.

“Colt’s in custody. Someone called in his truck at a pull-off a lot of hunters use and they tracked him down.”

“Did he shoot at anyone?”

“No. He was holed up in a cabin with a few friends, high as a kite.”

All the air left her lungs in a rush. “Good.”

“Also, we got surveillance camera footage of the guy who bought the bags of rock salt. It’s not Colt though.”

“Can I see it?”

He flipped his phone around and showed her the grainy black and white image. “That’s the best shot we have of his face.”

“That’s Tucker. Tucker Campbell.”

“Any relation to Garrett?”

“His little brother. You know Garrett?”

“That was one of the guys arrested with Colt. I’m going to go call in your ID, okay, Blue?”

She nodded and he left the room again.

“You all right, honey?” her mom asked.

Riley nodded. “I’m sorry they got Tucker messed up in all this. He was a good kid. And you two don’t talk about this at school,” she told Carly and Jessa. “SharaLee doesn’t need people spreading rumors about her brothers.”

“It’s not rumors if it’s true,” Jessa objected.

“It’s not nice even if it is true. No gossiping or Chris won’t come to dinner anymore.”

Jessa pouted as she turned her attention back to the mashed potatoes she had been sculpting with her fork. Chris rejoined the family and Riley searched for his hand under the table. He caught her hand and gave it a squeeze and she ate the rest of her dinner one-handed.


	17. Chapter 17

Chris and Riley sat on top of a picnic bench watching Bandit chase down the tennis ball Chris kept throwing for him. “Do you want the good news first or the bad news?” Chris asked.

“Bad news.” She stuck her hand in his coat pocket.

“He pled not guilty.”

She groaned. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, but good news?”

“What?”

“The judge denied him in bail because of the escalating pattern of criminal activity.”

Well, that helped make up for the prospect of a trial. She could sleep a little easier tonight and maybe she could convince her dad to put the shotgun back in the gun cabinet. “So how long is he in jail?”

“Through the trial.” He grunted as he threw the ball again.

“And when does that start?”

“Judge set the date for three weeks from now.”

“Oh crapola, am I going to be a witness?”

“Probably.”

Her hand clutched Chris’s. “Will you help me? I don’t know what to do. You said you’ve been cross-examined, right?”

He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll help. And the district attorney will work with you too. You’re not getting thrown to the lions on this.”

>< 

Riley sat on the bench in the lobby of the police department picking invisible lint from her skirt. A dog nosed her hand and she smiled as she petted Bandit. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be on patrol or something?”

Chris sat next to her and Bandit laid down on her feet. “I just thought I would wish you luck before your job interview. Not that you’re going to need it, because you’re awesome and going to nail this interview.”

“I wish you would tell that to the butterflies in my stomach. I think I’m going to be sick.”

Chris bent over and put his mouth right up to her belly. “Hey! Butterflies! Knock it if off in there! You’re making my girl need to hurl.”

Riley clapped a hand over mouth to keep from roaring with laughter. Chris didn’t seem to notice the strange looks they garnered from the other people in the lobby and he grinned at her. “Better?”

She nodded.

“Good. Quick kiss and I’ll get out of here before the Chief finds me flirting with you.”

>< 

Riley called Chris, too impatient to wait for him to get off shift so she could tell him face to face. She was dancing around in circles in her bedroom as she waited for him to pick up. “I have good news,” she said as soon as he answered.

“So do I.”

“You go first.”

“Garrett and Tucker pled out for reduced sentences and they’re going to testify against Colt.”

Riley stopped dancing. “Oh wow. That’s fantastic. Do you think that will make Colt decide to plead guilty?”

“If Colt was a normal person, I would say yes. But he’s one belligerent SOB so I wouldn’t count on it.”

“I’ll still hope.”

“You do that. Now, what’s your good news, Blue?”

“I got the job!” She started twirling around in circles again.

“That’s great. I’m taking you out dancing tonight to celebrate.”

“I’m gonna have to find a dress to wear. I might even let Jessa do my hair fancy.”

“I’m sure you’ll look perfect. I’ll pick you up at eight.”

>< 

Riley stood against the wall in the precinct room trying to find Chris. It was right after shift change and he had told her to meet her there, but there were a lot of detectives and uniform officers milling about and none of them the shoulders or dog that looked familiar.

“Can I help you, ma’am?”

Riley looked up at the tall woman who had just addressed her. “Um, I’m looking for Officer Evans but I don’t see him in here.”

“Something I can help you with? I’m Detective Ramirez.”

“I’m Riley Alcott.”

“Oh, you’re the new computer person. Nice to meet you. What do you need?”

“Well, I’m actually Officer Evans’s girlfriend too. I was supposed to meet him after he got off shift but I don’t think he’s back yet.”

“Hey guys, this is Evans’s girlfriend!” Detective Ramirez yelled over her shoulder.

Riley felt herself turn every shade of red in the 120 crayon Crayola box as she was suddenly the focus of a couple dozen pairs of eyes.

“But she looks normal.” “Why is a sweet thing like you dating a ruffian like him?” “So you’re the sugar in his coffee lately. Explains the smiles.”

“Um, I’ll just go now.” She started scooting towards the hall but Detective Ramirez caught her arm.

“Knock it off, guys. You’re just jealous.”

“Riley! What are you doing in here?”

She turned to Jackson who had just walked in. “I was looking for Chris but I think I’m going to run away now.”

“Oh no. Stay with us. We’ll tell you stories.” He grabbed one of the desk chairs and pulled it into the center of the floor and guided her into it. “Where’s Walters? She needs to hear about the skunk and the garbage can.”

“No, she most definitely does not need to hear about the skunk and the garbage can.”

Riley sighed in relief at Chris’s voice and jumped out of the chair.

“Hey darlin.”

She smiled up at him. “I’m never coming over to this side of the building again,” she whispered.

“Nonsense. Let me introduce you to everyone.”

Riley tangled her fingers in Bandit’s fur as he rubbed against her leg.

“Everyone, this is Riley. Riley, this is everyone.”

She rolled her eyes. “Wow, that was helpful Chris.”

“I know.” He grinned at her. “Ready to go?”

“Hey, how come Bandit lets her pet him? I’ve known Bandit for years now and he still won’t let me pet him.”

“That’s because Riley smells better than you, Beatty.”

Riley cuffed Chris in the arm and he laughed. “I don’t know. Bandit adopted Riley the first night we met.”

Chris blushed at the chorus of “Awwwwww’s” that met that pronouncement. “Shut up, we’re leaving.”

>< 

Riley was sick of the courtroom. She could probably draw the state seal that hung behind the judge from memory while blindfolded she had stared at it so long. Colt had refused to plead out and his attorney was doing the best he could to cope with the prosecution’s case. Riley had tried to be there whenever the trial was in session. She wasn’t skipping class to attend, but other than that she was there every day. Chris was there as much as possible. The other officers were swapping shifts with him to make his attendance possible, something that they probably were doing just because he was part of the squad, but that Riley was helping encourage by bringing baked goods in on a regular basis. She always put a serving of whatever she brought in Chris’s locker and then left the rest in the break room.

By now she knew all the officers and detectives by at least their last name. They were starting to treat her as part of the team instead of a girlfriend. Her first presentation about drug arrests by location and time of day had impressed a lot of the street officers who then rearranged patrol routes to take advantage of the new data. Detective Ramirez had invited her to go out to lunch with the other female detectives and officers, and she was starting to feel like she had friends in her own right at the department and not just as an extension of Chris.

When Chris couldn’t be there, at least one of the other officers would show up so she wasn’t by herself. Not that she would have been by herself. Her parents and Brandon took turns coming to court, and Chris’s mom came up for the part where Chris was on the witness stand. But by this point in the proceedings she was sick of being there, and it was still the prosecution’s case. Today she was extra sick because she was the one on the stand. Being asked questions by the district attorney hadn’t been that bad; she had practiced the types of questions and answers that might be asked. She had been told to just keep calm and give short answers and not to get emotional under cross examination.

That was easier said than done. Especially because the defense attorney kept asking stupid questions.

“Do you have proof that you didn’t steal the money from Mrs. Thompson?”

Riley narrowed her eyes for a moment. “Do you have proof that  _you_  didn’t steal the money?”

“That’s not answering the question.”

Riley did  _not_ roll her eyes in response. Chris had made her promise not to roll her eyes on the witness stand. “No. Just like you, I don’t have proof that I didn’t steal the money.”

“Your honor?”

“What? She answered the question.” Luckily, the judge thought the defense attorney’s questions were stupid as well.

The attorney looked at his legal pad. “And yet Mrs. Thompson has testified that money went missing.”

Riley waited for a few seconds. “Is that a question?” she finally asked.

“Are you saying that Mrs. Thompson is a liar?”

“No.”

“So you admit that money went missing.”

“I don’t know if money went missing or not. In the face of absolutely no evidence about whether or not money was taken, I am not going to call her a liar for saying money went missing.”

“And where do you think that money went?”

“I don’t know.”

“Best guess, Miss Alcott. Do you think Mr. Thompson stole money from his wife?”

“My best guess is that Colt took the money and snorted it up his nose like he was snorting everything else at the time.”

She could tell the defense attorney didn’t like that answer. “Objection! Witness is speculating.” She couldn’t tell if Chris was fighting back laughter or an aneurysm. The district attorney was doing a good job of keeping calm but the second seater had a legal pad covering her face.

The judge was implacable. “You asked her to speculate, council. You can’t object to her doing what you asked her to do.”

The defense attorney turned back to his legal pad. “You are dating a police officer, is that correct?”

Riley took a deep breath. She had known this line of questioning would come up and had practiced responses for the questions the district attorney thought she would get. Short, factual, unemotional, she reminded herself. “Yes, I am.”

“And the name of that officer?”

“Chris Evans.”

“And it is Officer Evans who arrested Colt Thompson on the initial charges?”

“Yes.”

“And it is after you started dating Officer Evans that you were hired as a police department employee, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Colt Thompson had never been arrested in his entire life until you started dating a police officer, correct?”

“I don’t know if he has ever been arrested before.”

“Did you ask Officer Evans to arrest Colt?”

“No.”

“So he just did it for fun?”

Her teeth ground together for a moment before she answered. It was harder to remain calm when they went after Chris than when he attacked her. “He did it because Colt asked me to do drugs with him in front of a police officer and a trained drug dog and he had meth on him.”

“Did Officer Evans encourage you to get a restraining order?”

“Yes. He thought that since Colt had been harassing me for eight months that I should get some legal protection in place.”

“So the restraining order was the police officer’s idea?”

“Originally, yes. But I didn’t pursue it until after Colt continued to harass me.”

“So you start dating a police officer and all of a sudden your ex-boyfriend who has never had any trouble with the legal system in his entire life suddenly has a history of harassment that no one has ever heard of before, is that correct?”

“I hadn’t told anyone what was happening because I was scared.”

“Or is it because you’re making up the whole thing to get back at Colt for dumping you?”

“No.”

“If it was really harassment like you claim, surely you would have told someone?”

“I was scared.”

“You didn’t even tell your brother, who is one of Colt’s best friends.”

“ _Wa_ s one of his best friends.”

“Oh, that’s right. You got your brother to change his story as well, didn’t you?”

“I told him the truth.”

“After you started dating Officer Evans.”

“I told you. I was scared!”

“Oh, and now you’re brave?” The defense attorney made a face appropriate for looking at a puppy that was gnawing on the toe of your shoe and commending him on what a good attack dog he was.

Riley’s nails bit into the palms of her hands. She was going to stay calm. She was not going to lose her cool. “Yes.”

“You start dating a police officer and miraculously now you’re brave. You don’t say a single word to anyone for eight months. But then you start dating a police officer and suddenly this law abiding citizen gets arrested three times in less than a week. That doesn’t sound like bravery to me; that sounds like police harassment.”

The prosecutor stood up. “Objection, counsel is making a closing argument.”

“Do you have a question for the witness, counsel?” the judge asked.

“How can you just expect us to believe you when all the evidence points to a vengeful ex-girlfriend and police harassment?”

“I don’t.”

“You don’t?”

“No, I don’t expect you to  _just_  believe me. That’s why I didn’t say anything for eight months. I know what happens when a girl dares to raise her voice against one of the golden boys in this town. I went to high school with Lara Johnson. I remember watching what happened to her when she accused John Hamilton of raping her at a party. I remember the stories that got published about her in the paper and the rumors that got reported on the news and I remember hearing about every alleged detail of her alleged past in such explicit detail that her entire family moved to another state so she could get away from it. So no, I don’t just expect you to believe me. I didn’t expect anyone to believe me because when Colt said I stole money from his mother, no one blinked twice, because you don’t question Colt Thompson in this town. So I kept my journal of every single interaction we had because I knew if I ever did have to actually stand up for myself, I would need every shred of proof I could get. The police haven’t harassed anyone but Colt Thompson has been harassing me.”

“Objection,” the defense attorney started.

“Don’t you  _dare_  object to me! I was answering your question. I was terrified. I slept with a handgun under my pillow for months. I couldn’t tell anyone the real reason I dumped him because I would have to talk about the fact that Colt “the sun shines out my ass” Thompson was dealing coke out of my grandma’s basement and that I had been so blind that I didn’t realize what was going on. I was scared because his drug dealing buddies broke into my house and Colt said they would murder me in painful ways if I went to the cops. I was embarrassed and terrified so I let him lie about me. But I kept that journal in case I did get killed in some drug deal gone wrong because maybe I’ve watched too much  _Breaking Bad,_  but you can check his phone records. The district attorney already did check his phone records, and every one of those texts I wrote down are on his records. So yes, I finally got brave because instead of everyone thinking I stole things and pitying poor Colt and wasn’t he lucky to escape that thieving slut, a cop looked at the evidence and said, this isn’t right, and for the first time in probably his entire life, Colt Thompson had to face the consequences of his actions. So yes, I expect you to believe me when I say he got me fired from two jobs. I expect you to believe me when I say he hit me so hard that my lip split open and the bruise lasted for a week and a half. I expect you to believe me when I say that he destroyed my grandmother’s house, that he destroyed my house, that he stabbed a butcher knife in the bed that we used to share. I expect you to believe me because I am telling you the truth.”

The defense attorney stared at her. The district attorney stared at her. Chris stared at her. Slowly everyone turned to look at the judge.

The judge idly scratched his cheek. The rasp of fingernails against stubble was loud in the silence. “Any more questions for the witness?”

“Um, no, your honor.”

“Prosecution?”

“No, your honor, but we reserve the right to call the witness again if needed.”

“So noted. You may step down, Miss Alcott.”

Riley carefully got to her feet and stepped down. Her hands were shaking as she walked across the courtroom. She was passing between the prosecution and defense tables when Colt hissed out, “Bitch!”

Riley froze for a second and kept walking. The gate into the gallery banged against her knees and she kept walking right out of the courtroom as the judge rebuked the defense attorney.

“Counsel, you will keep your client quiet or I will have the bailiff remove him from the courtroom and he can watch the rest of the proceedings on a video feed to the holding cell, is that understood?”

“Yes, your honor.”

Chris got to Riley first, leading a veritable stampede of people out of the courtroom to check on her. She had only gotten a few steps away before she had slid down the wall to the marble floor and started crying. Chris sank down right next to her and pulled her into his lap.

“I’m so sorry,” she hiccupped through her tears.

“For what? I thought you were brilliant.”

“I lost my temper and got emotional and yelled.”

“And the jury believed every word you said, darlin.”

“You think so?”

He nodded and smoothed her hair back from her flushed face. “I’ve seen a lot of juries in my day. They totally believed you.”

“I just got so mad when he kept saying it was police harassment. I don’t like it when people say mean things about you.”

“I almost asked the judge for permission to punch Colt in the face, but I figured that would be police harassment so I didn’t. But I don’t like it when people say mean things about you either.”

She sniffled and her mom thrust a hankie at her. With a huff of a laugh she took it and dried her face. “Okay, so I’m done with court for the day. Why don’t we all go get some lunch and then I should probably go to work.”

“Norma’s and mud cake?” Chris suggested.

Riley smiled. “That sounds perfect.”


	18. Chapter 18

Riley sat in the courtroom gallery with Chris’s arm around her shoulders. She ran her fingers up and down the veins in his forearm as she listened to the testimony. The defense were presenting their case now which meant they were getting closer to the end, even though listening to some of the lies that were being told made her want to throw things. The witness stepped down and Riley waited for the next one to be called to the stand. She wasn’t expecting for the defense attorney to rest his case.

“But he didn’t call Colt,” she whispered to Chris.

“He doesn’t have to,” Chris whispered back. “It’s probably smart that he doesn’t. The district attorney could make him lose his temper and who knows what he would confess to.”

The judge cleared his throat. “Then we’ll adjourn for the day and resume tomorrow at nine am to hear closing arguments.”

They rose as the judge stood to leave the bench and left the courtroom. “Can I take you out tonight?”

“I wish. I’ve got to work this afternoon and then I’ve got to work on a term paper tonight. Thanksgiving’s next week and then it’s straight into end of the semester craziness and finals.”

Chris pouted and she laughed. “Don’t do that. Your puppy eyes are more devastating than Bandit’s and I ended up feeding him half my supper last night.”

Chris chuckled. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then. If you have time, give me a call tonight.”

 She kissed Chris goodbye. “Give Bandit a hug from me.”

>< 

Riley waited until she had finished a detailed outline of her entire paper before she gave in and called Chris. Lounging on her bed and talking to a boy on the phone made her feel like she was sixteen again, except none of the boys she had dated in high school sounded nearly as sexy as Chris did, even when he wasn’t doing his melted cheese voice.

“So, darlin, you mentioned earlier that Thanksgiving is next week and I wondered if you wanted to do Thanksgiving with me.”

Riley snorted. “You, Mr. Paper Plates, are gonna cook a turkey?”

“No, I’m going home to my mom’s.”

She barely managed to keep from throwing her phone across the room. “Oh,  _hell_  no.”

“Why not? She’s a fantastic cook. Her sweet potato casserole is like a slice of heaven.”

“Have you forgotten about the whole panties incident?”

“Trust me, I have forgotten nothing about your panties, but I don’t think it’s nearly as big of a deal as you’re making it.”

Riley’s teeth ground together. “It’s as big of a deal as I’m making it because it’s  _my deal_. Just because you wouldn’t be phased by my mom walking in on you in your boxers doesn’t mean I’m wrong for having the reaction to it I do.”

Riley heard Chris take a deep breath and blow it out. “I know. It’s just, you’re my girlfriend and I want to take you home with me and show you off. Sooner or later you’re gonna have to face my mom.”

“Does it really have to be this soon, though?”

“No, of course not. But my family is a big part of my life and I don’t get to see them all the time like you do with yours now that things have gotten worked out. I mean, I know you gave up a lot of privacy when you moved back home and the reason was horrible, but you’ve said over and over how happy you are to have them back in your life. I’m the same way about mine.”

Riley rolled over on her stomach and stared out the window at the dark street. She could see her reflection staring back at her. She wasn’t a sixteen year old girl anymore. She was an adult. “When are you driving up?”

“Thursday morning. I work Wednesday until midnight.”

“I’ll think about it, okay?”

“Okay. No pressure, but the invitation is open.”

Riley sighed and flipped over onto her back. “This is the wrong time of year to fall in love because after Thanksgiving there’s the minefield that is Christmas.”

“But you have a built in date for New Year’s and Valentine’s,” Chris countered.

She could hear the smile in his voice. “I guess that’s true. Though I’ve never been a huge fan of Valentine’s Day.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“May first.  When’s yours?”

“June 13th.”

She grabbed a pen and scrawled his birthday on her notes so she could add it to her calendar later. “Good job avoiding the dreaded combination birthday Christmas present.”

“Thanks. You too.”

They both fell silent and after a minute, Riley said, “I guess I should go. Court in the morning, you know.”

“I can’t be there tomorrow. Do you have someone who can be with you?”

“My mom should be able to. I’ll call you if anything interesting happens. It should be just closing arguments and then jury instructions right?”

“Right.”

“And then we wait.”

“Then we wait.”

Riley made a vomit face at Grumpkin, who had been listening to the entire conversation with interest. “I hate waiting.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to wait long. Garrett and Tucker both testified he trashed your house, the phone records, the positive drug tests. There’s so much evidence.”

“Good. I just want this all over with.”

“Me too, love. I want you to know he’s in prison and can’t hurt you anymore. I want you to feel safe.”

“I feel safe with you.”

“You’re welcome to spend the night any time.”

She hugged her pillow and curled up on her side. “I’ve been thinking about that, too.”

“Well, just like Thanksgiving, the invitation is open.”

“I know. It’s just weird living at home and two little sisters. Insurance should pay out soon so I’ll be able to get my house livable again and then it will be easier.”

“Yeah. You get some sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“I love you, Chris.”

“I love you, Blue.”

>< 

Closing arguments were much longer and much more boring than the ones she had seen on the television. There were no fiery speeches, no dramatic pointing at the defendant, no quoting of Shakespeare or Cicero. Instead, the district attorney reminded the jury of all the evidence. He did manage to wave her journal around a few times, which Riley thought was a nice touch. Piece after piece of evidence he picked up and talked about, reminding the jury of the overwhelming amount of proof that had been presented. The judge called a break for lunch, and by the time they got back and the district attorney finished his argument it was late enough in the afternoon that the judge recessed for the rest of the day.

She called Chris and told him what had happened.

“You’ve got class in the morning, right?”

“Yeah. It’s for the best. If I had to sit there and listen to him actually deny that Colt did everything he did, I’d probably throw something at him.”

“Do you have someone who is going?”

“Brandon said he would be there, just to make sure nothing tricky happens.”

“Good. That means I can work the day shift like I’m scheduled and then I can take you on a real date tomorrow night.”

She grinned. It had been too long since she and Chris had been together. “Oooh, that’ll be nice.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Okay. Whatever you want. You name it, we’ll do it.”

“So many possibilities.” The only one she could think of right now was going back to his house and spending several hours in his bed, though.

“Okay, so I’m covering part of Harmon’s shift tonight, so I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“I’m looking forward to it. And I’ll think of something fun for us to do.”

>< 

The next day, Riley was driving from campus to the courthouse when her phone rang.

“Hey, Riley.”

“Hey Brandon. What are you up to? I thought you were going to be in court today.”

“I was. But the defense attorney only took about an hour and a half. The jury’s already in deliberations so don’t feel like you need to hurry back from school.”

“I’m already on my way, but I guess I’ll just go to work and get caught up.”

“And just from my viewpoint, I can’t see any way the jury returns a not guilty verdict. His lawyer didn’t even talk about some of the stuff. He didn’t even mention Tucker and Garrett.”

“Well that’s good to hear. I’m still not going to count my chickens until my eggs are hatched.”

“I’m gonna head to work now unless you need anything else from me.”

“Nope. Thanks for keeping an eye on things.”

She’d finished eating her lunch at her desk and was hard at work when her cell phone rang. “Hey, sexy man. I was wondering when I’d hear from you today.”

“I just got a head’s up from the court clerk. The jury’s back.”

She looked at the clock. It was only half past three. “Already?”

“Yep.”

“Is that a good sign?”

“Usually. Do you want to go?”

“I’m not missing this. I’m on my way.” She was already shutting down her computer.

“Okay. I’ll meet you there.”

Riley got to the courtroom first and Chris came in just a minute before the jury reentered. Riley scooted over on the bench so he had room. “You brought Bandit?” she whispered.

“I didn’t have time to find anyone to watch him. It’s okay though. He’s a law enforcement officer. He’s allowed.” She reached over Chris to pat Bandit who was sitting alertly in the aisle.

The judge entered and everyone stood up. The judge waved a hand in the general direction of the gallery and everyone sat back down. Riley grabbed Chris’s hand so tight she was probably cutting off circulation to his fingers as the judge asked the forewoman if they had reached a verdict.

“We have your honor.”

Colt and his attorney stood up.

“And how does the jury find?”

“In the matter of the state of Alabama versus Colt Thompson, we the jury find the defendant guilty on all counts.”

Riley clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from squealing with joy. It was silent in the courtroom except for Colt yelling, “You bitch!” and kicking over his chair as he lunged.


	19. Chapter 19

It had been a few years since Colt Thompson had played competitive football, but not even the start of a beer belly could completely erase the years of two a days in the summer heat. He put his hand down on the railing and launched himself over it like he was springing over his center on fourth and inches.

It had been a few years since Chris Evans had played competitive ball as well, but years of muscle memory had just been added to by his police training. He saw Colt coming at him and barreled forward, his shoulder set to take Colt right in the chest and drive him back.

Bandit had never played competitive ball, unless you considered chasing down the balls other people were throwing their dogs at the park and getting to them first competitive ball. But neither one of the men were paying attention to him until Chris crashed into Colt’s chest and drove him backward, right as Bandit took him out at the knees.

The crack of Colt’s head hitting the railing was as loud as a baseball getting hit right in the sweet spot, the sound ricocheting through the air with the sweet ringing clarity that signaled a home run before the ball was even out of the infield.

There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at Colt’s body stretched out in the aisle, dumbfounded by the precipitous end to the sudden calamity. Riley couldn’t even blink and then she caught a glimpse of brown and black movement.

“Bandit, no!”

Bandit looked at her and lowered his leg.

Riley still couldn’t blink and she looked at Colt sprawled on the floor and then at Chris. “I’m going to take Bandit outside before he ruins antebellum hardwood.” She didn’t wait for permission, but fled the scene.

“Go with her, Bandit,” Chris ordered.

She was pacing back and forth outside the courthouse with Bandit sitting on the grass watching her when Chris finally made his way out to her.

She ran to him and flung her arms around his neck. “Are you in trouble?”

Chris hugged her tightly and rubbed her back. “For preventing an assault? That’s sort of my job.”

“But like, his head and stuff. Is he going to be okay?”

“He’ll have a hell of a headache, but he’s okay.”

Riley sighed in relief and ran her hands through her hair, trying to comb out the nervous twisting she’d been doing for the last fifteen minutes. “Good. I mean, he’s an ass of colossal proportions, but I don’t want him permanently damaged or anything.”

Chris kept rubbing her back. “Riley, how are you still this sweet after all he’s put you through?”

She gave him the side eye. “I’m not that sweet. I wouldn’t mind having had the chance to take a swing at him myself.”

“Next time I’ll hold him and let you punch him.”

“Nah. No next time. I’m never going to see him again.” She smiled up at him. “I’m never gonna see him again!”

“You want to go tell everyone the good news down at the station?”

“Sure. I’ll meet you there.”

>< 

They walked into the station together, hand in hand. Chris yelled, “Hey, listen up.”

Everyone turned around and looked at them expectantly. Chris gestured to Riley.

“Guilty on all counts,” she announced with a grin.

A cheer went up from all the officers and detectives and Chris raised her hand like she’d just won a boxing match.

“And, Chris and I are going down to The Old Barn tonight to celebrate. We’d love for you all to come join us and I’ll put a round of drinks on Chris’s tab if someone will finally tell me the skunk and the garbage can story.”

Chris clamped his hands over her ears. “Sorry, she has to go. It’s an emergency.” He threw her over his shoulder and ran down the hall, away from all the shouts of, “Well, it was raining…”

Riley could barely stop laughing long enough to demand that he put her down. He didn’t until he got to her little office and the door was shut. “The Old Barn, huh?”

“I thought it would be fun.”

“Does that mean I get to dance with you?”

Her smile had just kept getting wider over the last twenty minutes. “Yes, sir, it does.”

“It does things to me when you call me sir.”

“I know. Why do you think I do it?”

“You are going to get yourself in trouble one of these days.”

She batted her eyelashes at him. “And what are you going to do about it?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” He kissed her. “I should go back to work before we get in trouble for having sex on your desk.”

“Yeah, you probably should.”

“Pick you up tonight around seven?”

“That sounds perfect.”

>< 

Chris helped Riley into the cab of his truck and then got in on his own side. The engine revved to life and he pulled out of the driveway of Riley’s parents’ house. “That is an awfully big purse you have there,” he said casually.

“That’s because it’s not a purse. It’s an overnight bag.”

“You going somewhere?”

“I thought I would spend the night at your place, if you don’t mind sharing the blankets.”

He pulled her hand over and kissed the back of it. “I think I can handle sharing the blankets. I think I can handle it so well that I am willing to blow off The Old Barn and head to my place right now and share a blanket with you.”

“No! You are taking me dancing. I look cute. Jessa curled my hair and I’ve got a cute dress on and you are taking me dancing.”

Chris tugged back the shoulder of her denim jacket to see if it was a sundress or not. “You’re wearing a sundress and boots, Blue.”

“I know.” Her smile was three degrees south of wicked.

“And you’re going to make me wait all evening?”

She arched an eyebrow and gave him a slow up and down from his cowboy hat to his boots. And back up. And a little bit down again. “I’ll be waiting for you to take off those jeans, too. Don’t think you’re the only one suffering.”

He chuckled. “Alright. But I am totally putting my hands on your ass while we dance.”

“You have my permission.”

“Thank you.”

A couple beers and a couple of hours of Chris twirling her away from anyone who mentioned the word skunk later, they were dancing together out in the middle of the big wooden floor. Most of his colleagues were gathered around tables up in the hay lofts so they finally had a little bit of privacy. Her arms were around his neck, her beer dangling loosely from one hand, while his hands were on her ass, keeping her nice and close.

“So, I’ve been thinking.”

Chris raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

“I’ll go.”

“You’ll go? To Thanksgiving with me?”

“Yes, but if anyone in your family makes one remark about my underwear I am stealing your truck and driving myself home and I’m taking Bandit with me.”

He spun her around a few times. “He would abandon me for you in an instant, too.”

“I know. He loves me. I give better ear scratches than you do.”

His arms tightened around her waist and brought her closer to his chest. “Thank you for agreeing to come home with me.”

“I figured it was about time, as many times as you’ve had supper with my family.”

“I love you, Riley.”

“I know.” She dipped under the brim of his hat and kissed him.

“And now that we’ve got Thanksgiving settled, I can start planning for Christmas.”

“I  _love_  Christmas.”

“So do I. It’s my favorite holiday of the year. I go cut down my own tree and put up lights all over the house. It’s the best.”

“And what do you want as a present?”

He hesitated for a few seconds. “Honestly?”

“No, I want you to lie to me so I get you the wrong thing. Yes, honestly.”

“I want you to move in with me.”

She stopped dancing for a moment but then caught back up. Chris didn’t say anything else, and they kept dancing as Riley stared over his shoulder.

“That’s a really big step,” she finally said.

“I know. I know it’s big and we’ve not been together very long but I love you. There’s nothing I could want more than to wake up to you every morning.”

“See, now I’m gonna feel like I’m ruining Christmas if I don’t say yes.”

“No. Don’t think that. I don’t want you feeling guilty about this. Just think of it as when you finally are ready to move in with me, whenever that might be, I’ll be as happy as if it were Christmas morning.”

“They’ve almost got all the repairs done to my grandma’s house and I got my check from the insurance people so I should be able to buy new furniture and things. Even if I don’t move in with you, I’ll be back there soon so we’ll have more privacy.”

They listened to the rest of the song without talking. When the next song got to the chorus, Chris spoke up again. “I want to say something and I don’t want you to take it the wrong way.”

Riley felt her pulse pick up a beat or two. “Well, now I’m a little scared, but okay.”

“You lived there for two years and you still call it your grandma’s house.”

She looked away, staring over his shoulder again. “I know.”

“Are you ever going to be able to feel like it’s your house?”

“Maybe with new furnishings? My mom and I were barely able to salvage any of my grandparents’ things.”

Chris’s hand tightened in the fabric of her dress. “I’ll be honest and fess up that part of me doesn’t want you going back there because of Colt.”

She stroked the side of his face. “But he’ll be in jail now. He can’t hurt me anymore.”

“No, I mean, that’s where you and Colt were a couple.”

She tried not to laugh but a giggle escaped anyway. “You’re a caveman.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t help it. That’s where he loved you and that’s where he hurt you, and I don’t want you near any of it.”

Her mouth twisted and her eyes clouded over. “Do you think he really loved me?”

“Yeah, I do. I think he loved you and then screwed up and lost you, and as much as he loved you, he couldn’t let go of the drugs to be a man worth you.”

“I know Colt and I were together longer than I’ve been with you, but I love you more than I ever loved him.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”

When he smiled like that, Riley found it impossible to keep from kissing him. “In fact, I love you so much that I’ll let you take me back to your place now.”

He didn’t need a second invitation.

>< 

Bandit looked out the window when he heard the truck park out front. Master was home. Oh, and he had brought Lady with him. That was good. Master liked Lady. He was always happier when Lady was around which meant he gave Bandit more treats. And Lady gave the best head rubs. She always got just the right spot behind his ears.

He sat right by the door as it opened, but Master and Lady didn’t have time for ear scratches apparently. Master picked up Lady and carried her down the hall to the bedroom and then shut the door. Bandit knew what the shut door meant. It meant they were going to be noisy.

Bandit lay down on his bed again. It would be awhile before there was any chance at treats or pets now. He closed his eyes but kept one ear pricked to listen for progress. He had learned that it wasn’t Lady being noisy that was important. It was when Master started shouting that meant the door would be opening soon and Master would come out to the kitchen to get a drink. Sometimes Lady would come out of the bedroom as well, and he would get ear scratches, but even if it was just Master, he could usually get a treat out of him.

Oh, there was Lady. She was yelling about something. The question now was how many times she would make noise. Very rarely was it just once. Sometimes it was three or four, but if it was four usually by that point her and Master were yelling at each other. Master never yelled as often as Lady, but when he did, that settled it and Lady stopped arguing about whatever it was they always got so heated up about in there. That’s why he was Master. What he said was Law and no use fighting it.

There she was again. That didn’t take long for her to get noisy a second time. He still hadn’t figured out if the time between her yelling was important. Sometimes it would be close together, and sometimes it’d be more spread out. Bandit never could tell what was going to happen in that regard.

Finally she started yelling again and Bandit perked up when he heard Master answering her. He’d be getting a treat soon. Bandit’s tail thumped against the floor as he waited. After a while he heard the door open and he trotted into the kitchen. Master petted him on the head and gave him three treats out of the jar.  _Three!_  He yipped in appreciation and Master petted him again.

“Sorry, boy. You’re going to have to sleep out here tonight.”

Master took two water bowls into his bedroom and shut the door again. That meant Lady was staying tonight. She hadn’t done that very often. Bandit curled up on his bed and crunched on a treat. He would have to stay out here tonight, but that was okay, because when Lady stayed the night, that meant in the morning all three of them would get in the truck and go play ball. Lady wasn’t very good at ball, but Master was excellent, and Lady’s ear scratching made up for her poor ball skills. And with Lady staying longer, that meant Master would be happier, and that meant more treats.

>< 

Chris rested his head on Riley’s belly, smiling up at her through the valley between her breasts. He squeezed one gently and left his hand covering it. “You have gorgeous breasts.”

“Why thank you, kind sir.”

“No, I’m serious. I love them. They’re the perfect size and they have the perfect amount of squish to them,” he sat up and demonstrated with both hands, causing Riley to bust out in the giggles, “and your nipples. William Shakespeare would have written sonnets to your nipples if he had ever seen them.”

“Shakespeare, huh?”

“Yes. They’re just so pink,” he traced a fingertip in tiny circles on the top, watching as her nipple puckered, “and they stand up for attention like –,”

Riley slapped her hand over his mouth. “If you compare my nipples to pencil erasers, this slumber party is over.”

“I was going to say gum drops. Perfect pink gumdrops.” He flicked his tongue over the top of it. “Sweet and perfect, just for me.”

Riley might have had something to say about that, but he sucked her nipple into his mouth and bit, and her words just turned into a soft groan. His hand was on her other breast and between his fingers and his mouth he was turning her from strawberry to cherry. All she could do was whimper. He was kneeling over her, one of his legs between hers, and she started squirming, rubbing on his thigh as he kept kneading and squeezing and sucking away.

She started begging and he could not resist that. Not with her hands stroking over his shoulders and back. She started pleading for him to take her again and just like that he flipped her over on her stomach and grabbed her hips.

“This what you want, Riley?”

“Yes.”

“You sure about that?” He grabbed his shaft and pressed the tip of it against her entrance.

“Condom,” she squeaked.

“Oh fuck.” He laughed as he dove for the nightstand. “That could have been bad.” He fumbled out a foil packet, rolled it on and knelt behind her again. Riley heard a deep sigh. “Damn it, I’ve lost my mojo.”

“Your mojo?”

“Yeah, the whole ‘I’m gonna make you beg for it’ thing I had going on.”

Riley giggled and then wiggled her bum. “Come on, I’m sure you can find it again.”

“Do that again.”

“What this?” She wiggled her bum and he groaned deep in his chest.

“Your ass is even better than your breasts, darlin.” He stroked both of his hands lovingly over her cheeks and made a sound of delight as he squeezed. “Absolutely gorgeous.”

Riley was still watching him over her shoulder. “You find your mojo yet?”

“Gimme another wiggle.”

She buried her face in the pillow and laughed but  wiggled one more time. He smacked her ass, hard enough to leave an outline of his hand right on the cheek. Riley’s back arched and she moaned at the sting.

“You like that, Blue?” It sounded like he was coming down with a chest cold.

She bit her bottom lip and nodded.

“You want a matching one on the other side?”

“Yes, please,” she whispered.

Chris spanked her again, leaving another mark. Riley shuddered and moaned, giving Chris a perfect view of her thighs clenching together.

The muscle in his jaw twitched as he stared at her ass and his handprints. “Well, this is something we are going to have to come back to and explore in the future, Riley girl.”

She nodded, her breath hitching enough in her chest already that she didn’t want to risk wasting any of it on words.

Chris put his hand on the small of her back and then slowly slid it up her spine until he could sink his fingers into her hair. “Up on your elbows, Blue. I want to hear you as we fuck.” He gave her a tug and as soon as she rose up, he pushed inside her with one fast thrust, burying his cock and groaning.

Riley looked at him over her shoulder. “That looks like a Christmas morning face.”

“I wish you could feel how good you feel. You’d be grinning like this too.”

“Oh, you make me feel real good all by yourself.”

“Is thhat right?” He wrapped an arm around her ribs, right below her breasts, and pulled her upward until she was against his chest, and then slid his hand upward, wrapping around her jaw and keeping her face turned to his.

“That’s right,” she murmured against his lips before she kissed him. Kissing him was good. Kissing him while he moved inside her was the best thing ever. Better even than a closet full of expensive cowboy boots of her very own. Of course, it wasn’t just kissing and him moving. His hands got into the act too, taking turns teasing her breasts or gliding between her legs. He made her lose her breath and lose her mind, and eventually she just reached behind and held on to him, trusting that he wouldn’t let her fall on her face. Guys were entirely different creatures than girls, she decided, because while she couldn’t even form a word, he was talking to her. Sweet talking and telling her he loved her. Naughty talking and telling her how good her pussy felt around his cock. It was too much, and her thighs started trembling and she started digging her nails in where she was holding him, and he started urging her on, telling her how close she was as his fingers kept up their magic. His arm tightened around her as her body bowed tight and she cried out incoherently, and he kept her upright and safe and close as he kept thrusting, harder now and with his own needs in mind rather than hers. It wasn’t more than a minute later that he found his own personal oblivion in her body.

When he was breathing somewhat normal again he lowered her down to the bed and then collapsed next to her. After a minute or so of recovering, he said, “Riley?”

She rolled over so she could see him. “Yeah?”

“I love you.”

She laughed. “That’s good.”

He propped his head up with his elbow. “I’m serious here. This isn’t just post-coital bliss talking. I love you. More than I’ve ever loved anyone.”

Riley swallowed and ran her hand over his chest for a few seconds so she could get her voice under control. “I love you, too, Christopher.”

“I just wanted you to know that. It doesn’t matter to me if you move in on Christmas or not. I will wait for you to be ready. I’ll wait as long as you need, because there’s no one else I’d rather make a home with than you.”

She may have gotten her voice under control but that didn’t mean she had any idea of what to say. “That’s real sweet of you.”

He smiled. “And besides, there’s this new game coming out for the Xbox and it would be a pretty damn good Christmas present too.”

He started laughing as she grabbed for a pillow and attempted to smother him with it. She was vulnerable to his tickle counter attack and he quickly confiscated her weapon and tucked himself around her. “Come be my little spoon.”

Riley snuggled into him and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the back of her head. “Goodnight, Blue.”

“Goodnight, Officer.”


	20. Chapter 20

Riley stood at the end of the walk leading up to her grandma’s house. Chris stood behind her, resting his hands on her hips. They’d been standing that way for over a minute in the cold sunshine. Bandit was busy sniffing around the corners of the yard.

Chris gave her a squeeze. “You don’t have to do this. Especially not today.”

“I know, but it’s my house. And it’s all fixed. I want to see what it looks like.”

“Well, you can probably do that better on the inside.”

She hugged herself tighter. “I know, but it already looks so different. The new front window has panes and the trim’s all different looking.

“That window was probably fifty years old. I bet this new one will keep you a lot warmer.”

“Yeah. The old one always let through every bit of cold and every drop of sunshine.”

He waited for another minute. “Blue?”

“Yeah, I know.” She took a deep breath, getting a whiff of the dutch apple pie Chris had baked that morning, and then hurried up the front walk. The contractor had dropped off the new front key last night and she slipped it into the new door.

It smelled different. The chemical tang of paint and sealer lingered in the room, and new carpet lent its distinctive smell to the new aroma. It sounded different, too. The light switch was quiet instead of snapping into position, and the light fixture overhead was different too, casting the shadows in slightly different places. She stepped into the new living room. It was empty. Everything was empty. There was no furniture. The faded floral curtains her grandmother had sewn no longer hung at the windows. She rubbed her fingers against the wall. New paint instead of old wallpaper. She peeked into her bedroom. New carpet. No bed. Grandma’s bedroom was the same. New paint, too.

The bathroom looked like something out of a magazine, with a framed mirror and fancy lights. All the fixtures were matte instead of shiny. The kitchen had tile now instead of the old warn linoleum that had been so smooth underfoot. She peeked out the back door. A rectangle of good dirt waited a gardener’s attention, but the trellises and tomato cages she had fashioned out of scrap wood and branch cuttings were gone.

Carefully she shut the back door and locked it, and then walked straight to the front door and out onto the porch and sat down on the step.

Chris squatted down beside her. “Tell me what to do here, because I don’t know.”

She handed him the key. “Lock the door please?”

Chris shut and locked the front door and then sat down on the step next to her.

“That’s not my grandma’s house anymore.”

Chris put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. “No, it’s not.”

“It’s not my house either. Not anymore. Everything in there now reminds me of what Colt did to it. Every time I would look in that mirror I’d be thinking of what he wrote on the old one.”

Chris kissed the top of her head. “So what do you want to do?”

“Well, I think me and you and Bandit should get back in your truck and drive to your momma’s house for Thanksgiving, and we’ll eat a lot of food and drink some beer and then maybe watch some football while you try and keep your family from telling me embarrassing stories about your misspent youth.”

Chris smiled and kissed her temple. “They are good at telling stories.”

“Do they know the one about the skunk and the garbage can?”

“No, they do not, so don’t even bother asking.”

Riley stood up and dusted off her butt with both hands. “I’m pretty sure you are lying to me right now, Christopher.”

“No, ma’am. I would not do that.”

Riley squinted down at him. “We’ll see about that.”

“You ready to go?”

Riley nodded and stuck out a hand to Chris.

He let her help him to his feet. “Then let’s do this.”

Riley stopped half way down the walk and squatted down to touch one of the plants that bordered the concrete. “My grandma planted this so long ago that my mom can’t remember it not ever being here. It’s called Hens and Chicks and my mom and my aunt and both uncles took cuttings of it when they moved out on their own. I don’t know if my uncles kept theirs alive, but my mom still has hers.”

“It grows out in front of your house, right? By the garage?”

“Yep. She’s dug it up and moved it with her each time her and dad have moved.” She brushed her fingers over the plant. “I hope the next owners of this house don’t tear it out. It’s about the only thing left that reminds me of her.”

>< 

Riley was quiet for most of the two hour drive to Chris’s parents’ house. Perhaps stopping at Grandma’s on the way out of town hadn’t been the smartest idea, but she had been looking forward to having her own space again and having a bit of privacy. She’d been living on her own the last two years and going back to having parents around all the time was a bit of a challenge, even if dad was looking the other way when it came to her spending a night at Chris’s every once in a while. She’d been saving up her paychecks and with the insurance payment having come through, she had planned on moving back into that house, but Colt’s ghost still stank up the place, even more than the new paint.

Of course, after the keys to the redone house got dropped off yesterday, she had decided to stop at Target to get a new shower curtain as a way of celebrating and had kept gravitating towards the ones she thought would look nice in Chris’s second bathroom. She’d had a while to stare at it the afternoon she had locked herself in there to get away from his mother and had thought it was ugly as sin. She ended up buying a nice striped shower curtain. It would look lovely in her bathroom. Or, you know, in Chris’s.

Finally, she shook off the funk that had been lurking and she spent the rest of the drive quizzing Chris about his family so she wouldn’t stick her foot in her mouth and fidgeting with the hem of her dress. It was a proper dress with sleeves and everything. She was going to make a good impression this time. When they pulled up in front of the house, there were enough cars and trucks already there that it looked like a church parking lot. “How many people are here?”

“About forty or so.”

Riley choked on her tongue. “Forty?”

“That’s about usual for Thanksgiving.”

“But…” She looked at all the vehicles again. “But I thought it was just your family.”

“This is family. Aunts and uncles and cousins and such. A few babies crawling around now too.”

Riley closed her eyes for a few seconds. “Okay. I can do this, right?”

“You’ll be fine. They’ll all love you.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Riley helped Chris carry food into the house. The door was standing open and the sounds of people talking and laughing reached them before they were half way up the walk to the house. “Bandit, be friendly,” Chris warned as they stepped inside, past the large wreath of fall leaves and berries on the door. The entry was decked with family pictures and Riley caught a glimpse of at least one pink cheeked Chris picture she would have to come back and examine more closely.

Riley followed the path Chris cut through the mingling people with his wide shoulders until they made it into the kitchen. “Mom, your favorite child is home.” The woman bent over basting the turkey didn’t even look up.

“Oh, did Jason finally show up?”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

After a final few adjustments to the turkey, she shut the oven door and stood up. “Christopher!”

“Mom,” he grinned.

She took the pies out of his hands and set them on the crowded counter before enveloping her son in a huge hug. He towered over her but she still managed to make it look like she was hugging a nine year old. “I’m so glad you made it.” She pushed him to the side. “And you must be Riley. It’s so nice to meet you. Chris has told me so much about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Riley found herself in a warm embrace. Chris’s mom felt and smelled like her own mom, right down to her hugs. “I brought you a little something as a thank you for having me over for Thanksgiving.” She handed Alice the gift bag she’d been clutching.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that, sweetie.”

“My momma would tan my hide if I came to someone’s house for supper and showed up empty handed.”

Alice took the bag from her with a smile. “Cute and manners, too. You keep this one, Chris. I like her.”

Chris frowned and turned to Riley. “Wait, does that mean your mother thinks I’m rude for never having brought anything?”

“No. It’s different. She hasn’t invited you over. You’ve just been there when dinner’s been put on the table.”

He squinted at her and she got the feeling that she knew what he looked like when he was questioning an uncooperative witness. “That sounds like a technicality.”

Riley shrugged helplessly. “Well, next time you come over, bring something for my mother.”

He leaned against the counter. “I’m going to do that.”

Alice laughed and clapped Chris on the back. “Maybe she can get the manners lesson to stick with you. Lord knows I’ve tried.”

“I put the seat down now.”

“Yes, but your girlfriend just brought me a bottle of expensive wine and a box of chocolates.” She set the bag on the counter back out of the way. “Riley, love, would you like a beer?”

“Um, yeah. I’d love one.”

“Cute, manners, and drinks in the afternoon. She’s perfect.”

Riley blushed from the neckline of her dress all the way up to her eyebrows and Chris pulled her into a hug so she could hide her face for a few seconds. “Stop naming the grandbabies, Mom.”

“I’m not naming any grandbabies. You two are still babies.” She waved a big wooden spoon at the both of them. “I’m just telling you that your taste in women has drastically improved.”

“Thank you. And now we’re changing the topic. What can I help with?”

Alice went back to stirring something unrecognizable together. Maybe it was some sort of dressing. “Your father is out back with the other men. They’ve decided to smoke one of the turkeys and deep-fry another. Will you go check and make sure they’re not going to burn down the house?”

“Sure.” He gave Riley a peck on the cheek. “You going to come with me, Blue?”

Alice grabbed her arm. “She’s gonna stay with me so I can get to know her better.”

Chris smiled an apology at her which did nothing to settle trepidation surging through her at the idea of getting questioned by her boyfriend’s mom and grabbed a beer from the bucket of ice tucked under the breakfast bar on his way out to the back yard. Alice waited until he was gone and then turned to Riley. “Okay, quick, tell me. Did he bake both of those pies?”

Riley frowned at the unexpected question. “No, just the apple one. I made the lemon meringue.”

“Oh good.” She grabbed the apple pie and handed it to Riley. “Go put this in my bedroom. End of the hall, last door on the left.”

Riley didn’t say anything but warily walked down the hall and knocked on the closed bedroom door before peeking inside. Quickly she set the pie on the dresser and then left. When she got back to the kitchen, Alice hugged her. “Thank you. He insists on baking his ‘famous’ dutch apple pie every year and it’s horrible so I’ve taken to hiding it under guise of saving it to enjoy later if he ever asks where it is.”

“Is it that bad?”

Alice nodded solemnly, setting her dark blonde bob to swinging. “It’s disgusting. I have gotten fairly good at choking down the creations my kids have come up with over the years, but I can’t even get a single bite down of that thing. Lord love the boy, but he cannot bake worth a damn.”

 Riley clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing and Alice pointed a finger at her.

“Don’t you dare tell that sweet boy what I said. It would crush his heart.”

“It’s our little secret. I swear.” She drew a cross over her heart. “Now what can I do to help?”

“No, you’re fine. You grab your beer and go flirt with my son. I like seeing him smile.”

Riley folded her arms over her chest and looked at Alice with her forehead crinkling in stubbornness. “I know how crazy cooking for this many can be. There’s got to be something I can do.”

“You’re a sweet child. You come back next year and I’ll add you into the chore rotation.”

“A chore rotation?”

“Surely you don’t think I do this all myself.” Alice flipped open the pantry door to reveal a whiteboard as tall as she was. Each dish was listed, along with who was responsible for bringing it and when it needed oven space. There was also an elaborate, color-coded ‘day of’ schedule broken down into fifteen minute increments.

“What does CP mean?” She pointed at the letters that were written next to several of the dishes.

“Crock Pot. I plug a power strip in beside the piano and everybody who brings stuff in a crock pot just sets it there and plugs it in. It keeps the counters in here free for working.”

Riley looked for Chris’s name and found it next to dishes. “Next year my name better be on that list.”

“You stick around for a year and it definitely will be, sweetie.” Alice patted Riley on the cheek and smiled. “Now go enjoy yourself. And if you find Jason out there tell him he needs to come in and start cutting up the green beans.”

“Will do.”

>< 

Riley had her hands buried in soapy water, scrubbed baked on something off the casserole dish. Chris was loading plates and glasses into the dishwasher. “You really don’t have to be doing that, Blue.”

“I know, but this way I get to hang out with you.”

“You could just sit on the counter all cutelike and watch me do the dishes.” He grabbed a handful of silverware she’d rinsed off and shoved it in the appropriate tray in the machine.

She rinsed off the casserole dish and then set it to dry on top of the dish towels she’d laid all over the counters. “It’s nice to help out. Your mom wouldn’t let me do anything earlier.”

“You got points for offering, though.”

She grabbed another casserole dish and stuck it in the water to soak. “Your mom’s nice. She reminds me of my mom.”

“I told you.” He kissed the top of her head and then whispered, “Where did she hide the pie this year?”

Riley dropped the scrubbing pad and then grabbed for it in the sudsy water. “What do you mean?”

“I know that pie is horrible. And I know she hides it so no one will have to eat it.”

Riley stopped washing and looked up at him. “If you know it’s so bad, why don’t you stop making it?”

“Did you see the chore chart?”

Riley grinned and nodded. “I think your mom could plan a military invasion.”

“People rotate through all the different assignments. If I insist on making that pie, then she has a reason not to put me on any of the other food ones.” He rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck and then went back to filling the dishwasher. “This way I don’t screw up any of the foods people really like, and then I get assigned to do something I can actually do and not screw up, like the dishes. Or taking out all the garbage.”

Riley grabbed his face with her sudsy hands. “You are the sweetest man I have ever met, Christopher Robert, and it has been entirely too long since I kissed you.”

She kissed him, and he kissed her, and she ended up sitting on the edge of the counter with him standing between her legs as they kept kissing. That lasted until they got interrupted by Jason coming into the kitchen to get another container of ice cream to accompany the second round of pie. “You two better get back to washing dishes so there’s room for the dessert plates.”

Riley looked around at the dishes they still had to wash. She felt a little bit like Cinderella. “There’s more?”

“Don’t worry. Mom’s got someone else assigned to wash the dessert dishes.”

“Really?”

“I told you. Everybody helps out when my mom’s in charge.”

“Well, in that case, I think we have time for one more kiss.”

A few minutes later, they were interrupted by Chris’s mother. “Christopher, if Riley’s distracting you from your chores, I can have her come eat pie with me.”

Riley laughed and kissed Christopher on his blushing cheek. “I’ll behave myself, Mom.”

Chris’s eyes widened at that and she nudged him in the side. “Now you know how it feels,” she whispered to him as his mother left.

His arms tightened around her. “I like you calling her Mom.” He kissed her once more and then helped her down from the counter.

“She said she’ll put me on the chore chart next year.”

Chris lifted an eyebrow as he poured detergent into the dishwasher. “And what do you think about that?”

Riley gnawed on her upper lip for a moment. She may have lost one home this morning, but she had a feeling sitting all gentle in her heart that this afternoon she’d found a new one. “I think I’m looking forward to next year.”


	21. Chapter 21

Johnny Mathis crooned Christmas carols in the background as Riley and Chris sat on the floor in front of the Christmas tree with a present on the floor between them. The lights of the Christmas tree sparkled on the huge silver bow on the big box. Bandit lay on his big floor pillow, chewing on the bone that Lady had given him and watching his people. Chris looked back and forth between the present and Riley. Her eyes were twinkling as much as the lights. “So, do I have to wait until tomorrow to open it?”

Riley was nearly as excited for him to open the gift as he was. “No. That’s the reason we’re having Christmas Eve together. So we can exchange presents and such.”

“And such?” He waggled an eyebrow at her and she giggled.

“I have to get home before midnight or Santa’ll put coal in my stocking.”

“Well then, I guess I better open this present.”

Riley sipped her cocoa as he took the bow off and stuck it on top of his head. He tore into the wrapping paper but stopped when he got to the box. “You bought me a new microwave?”

“No, silly. I just used the box because it’s the only I could find that was big enough.”

Chris grinned and pulled open the flaps. He paused when he saw what was inside. Slowly he pulled out a sundress. “Um thanks? Though I think it would look better on you. Cross-dressing isn’t really my thing, Blue.”

Riley giggled. “It’s _my_ dress. I just thought that if I’m moving in with you tomorrow I might as well start bringing over my stuff.”

Chris dropped the dress back into the box filled with her other clothes. “You’re moving in with me?”

“That’s what you wanted for Christmas, right?”

Joy and worry warred on his face. “Well, yeah, but only if you really want to. I don’t want you doing it just to make me happy.”

“I want to. We’ll have to get Bandit a nice big comfy bed for our bedroom because I am not letting him sleep in between us, but that’s my only stipulation. I want to be with you, Chris.”

He closed the flaps and dropped his head for a few seconds. His eyes were watering when he looked up her again. “This is the best Christmas ever, Riley. I mean, you chopped down the tree with me and then you helped me decorate it so it actually looks nice, and now you moving in. I don’t think anything will ever top this.”

“Maybe we’ll have to get married some Christmas.” She froze with her mug half way to her mouth as she realized what she said. Her eyes darted around the room, focusing on anything other than Chris’s face until she heard him laugh. She steeled herself against her embarrassment and looked at him. He was still laughing and he slapped his chest as she stuck her tongue out at him.

He coughed and rubbed his hand over his mouth to calm down. “Maybe we’ll have to do that some year.” He winked. “Now here, open your present.” He pushed a box across the floor to her.

“Oh, before I forget, that game you wanted is underneath all my clothes in there.”

He leaned over the box and caught the back of her neck with his hand. “You are perfect.” He pulled her close enough to kiss her.

She shrugged. “Parts of me are.”

He kissed her again before sitting back. “Now open your present. And don’t shake it.”

“Why? Did you stick a puppy in there?”

“No, it’s not a puppy.”

His wrapping job wasn’t as pretty as hers, but she pulled off the paper and opened the box. Inside sat two pots of Hens and Chicks. She teared up before she could say anything. “You bought me my own.”

“No,” Chris rubbed his chest. “The blue pot is from your grandma’s yard and the red pot is from your mom’s. She helped me do it so I didn’t accidentally kill them because I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Riley rubbed away the tears with the back of her hand. “That makes them even better.”

“I was hoping that you’d plant them here when they outgrew their pots. I figured that would give you enough time. I just didn’t want whoever buys your grandma’s house to tear them out before you had a chance to take a cutting.”

“You are the sweetest man ever.” Riley scooted the box to the side and crawled forward to kiss him. He tugged her into his lap and his arms slid around her back as they kissed, holding each other as the reality of their new little family fell over them like the quiet of falling snow.

Riley rested her head on his shoulder, inhaling him and the scent of the pine tree.

Chris kissed her hair and squeezed her once more. “So, now that you’ve decided to move in with me, I guess the question is, should we look for a different place or do you want to plant them here?”

“I think here is good for now. I’ll just dig them up and take them with us if we move.”

“I want you to feel like this is home. I may have gotten here first, but this is _our_ home, Blue.”

Riley smiled and snuggled in even closer, slipping her hand under his shirt so it was resting on his back. “I just need a few drawers and a little bit of counter space in the bathroom.”

“And a craft table somewhere,” he added.

“What makes you think I need a craft table?”

“You made me and Bandit stockings. With things on them. What’s the name of the things again? Angelicas or something?”

“Appliques.”

“You made me and Bandit stockings with appliques on them. That’s a ‘needs her own crafting space’ type of skill. We may not be able to get you your own room like my mom has yet, but we’ll figure out how to at least get you a table and some drawers. I don’t want you having to put away your sewing machine every time we have dinner or something.”

Riley wondered if there was a patron saint of flat tires she should be making offerings to on a daily basis. “I don’t even own a sewing machine, Chris.”

“Well, you have birthdays and Valentine’s and there’s always Just Because I Felt Like It day. You’ll need a sewing machine and some sort of space so you can make yourself a stocking. Next year it needs to be hanging up there with mine and Bandit’s.”

“Next year,” she said with a smile and kissed his jaw. “Next year we’ll open stockings together Christmas morning instead of in different cities. You’ll remember to take my presents to your parents, right?” She had tucked them under the tree when she had arrived.

“Of course. What did you get them?”

“I bought your dad alcohol, because I didn’t know what else to do, but I made your mom a quilted table runner.”

“I approve of the booze, as will my dad, and I don’t know what a table runner is.”

“It’s the pretty thing that goes down the middle of the table.”

“Ohhh. She’ll love that.”

“Really?” Riley looked up at him in trepidation. Not everyone loved handmade gifts.

“Yes. One because you made it, and my mom has every popsicle stick Christmas ornament all of her kids ever made because she loves handmade things, and second, because she loves stuff like that. She’s always making crafty stuff.”

Riley smiled. “I noticed she had a different fall themed table runner on each table for Thanksgiving. The one I made is for Christmas though. I’m just glad finals ended soon enough for me to spend a week locked in my mom’s craft room.”

“She’ll treasure it. And you remember to take your parents my gifts when you race Santa back to your house tonight.”

“I will. What did you get them?”

“I got your dad a new tool belt. He was complaining about the webbing on his fraying when I was over there helping him put up all the outdoor Christmas decorations. And then I bought your mom that fancy apron she kept eyeing at the Christmas Festival.”

“You did good. They’ll both love their gifts and my dad would have just fixed his with duct tape and kept grumbling about it for another decade and my mom never buys herself stuff like that and she’s too busy making stuff for everyone else to make her own.”

Chris nodded knowingly. “I think my mom has aprons that are older than me.”

“You realize that next year that we’re going to have to figure out how to split holidays.”

“Thanksgiving at one, Christmas at the others?”

“Or dinner at one place and dessert at the other. We’ll have to coordinate with your mom’s chore chart.”

Chris chuckled. “There’s plenty of time to figure all that out later.”

She’d spent so much time thinking in terms of just surviving until graduation that the reality of her new circumstances hadn’t really sunk in until now. This right here, sitting in his lap with wrapped up in his big strong arms didn’t have an expiration date, and she didn’t want it to, either. Riley sat up straighter so she could see Chris eye to eye. Her fingers drifted along the line of his jaw and then across his bottom lip like she was touching him for the first time. “There is, isn’t there? We’ve got the whole future in front of us,” she whispered.

Chris seemed to be having the same realization as she was. “Yeah, we do. I’m not planning on letting you go. I’ve caught you and I think I’m gonna be asking the judge for a life sentence.” He didn’t laugh this time, just smiled slowly and leaned in for a kiss.

Her cocoa was cold by the time they stopped kissing and his shirt was off and so was hers. “You know what I’m excited about?” she asked as she caught her breath. They wouldn’t have stopped except Bandit was quite insistent that he needed to go outside.

His breathing wasn’t that steady either. “What’s that?” he asked, coming back into the living room.

“Having our own traditions.” She licked her bottom lip.

His tongue did the same thing. “I’ve got one I’d like to start tonight.”

“What’s that?” She slowly tugged her bra strap off of her shoulder.

“Making love to you under the Christmas tree with the lights sparkling in your eyes.”

Riley was fairly convinced by this point that she never ever would be able to listen to him go all melted cheese voice without turning into a puddle of goo. “It’s a good thing you just put Bandit outside or he would’ve nosed me someplace inappropriate at the worst possible moment.”

“That a yes to our new tradition?”

She reached up and popped the button on his jeans open and then tugged down the zipper. “That’s a yes.” Her hands closed on his pockets and she pulled down his jeans, giving her an eyeful of him nice and hard inside his boxer briefs. “A whole lotta yes,” she muttered.

He laughed and joined her on the floor. “Here’s to new traditions.” He pulled her so she was straddling his lap like she had been before they’d been interrupted and caught her bottom lip between his teeth. He suckled and scraped his teeth along it before letting go.

“And here’s to a future filled with traditions that have grown old.” She kissed him softly and slid her arms around his neck. “I love you, Christopher.”

“I love you too, Riley.”

“We probably should have taken my jeans off before I got back in your lap.”

He grinned and she kissed him. “Probably.”

“What do you think we oughtta do about that?” Her cheeks were hurting from all the smiling she’d done tonight.

He grabbed her hips with both hands and helped her stand up. Quickly he undid her jeans and pulled them down, leaving her in just a bra and panties. “Now I want pie.” He kissed her over the red lace.

His hands slid from her hips up to her breasts as she lowered herself back into his lap. “I’ve got a few hours until Santa shows up,” she offered as she licked that spot on his ear lobe that always made his shudder.

His eyes rolled back in his head as she started to suckle. “Good. That means there’s plenty of time for dessert.”

“All the time in the world,” she whispered as his hands dropped to her bum and started rocking her against him, squeezing and kneading so she felt the heat rising in her like steam coming off the lake on a frozen morning. “All the time in the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End. Well, kind of. There's just the epilogue to go.


	22. Epilogue

_May 1_

Riley was squished on the couch between Chris on one side and Jessa on the other. Carly was recording everything with her phone while sitting as close to Marcus on the hearth as she possibly could without actually sitting on him. Or at least she said she was filming. To Riley it looked like she was spending most of her time playing footsie with Marcus while they made goo-goo eyes at each other. Riley was okay without being the center of everyone’s attention, though, even if it was her birthday. Chris had graciously agreed to a family dinner and gifts before he took her dancing for the rest of the evening. She was wearing his favorite sundress and the boots she’d gotten for graduating high school. The looks he kept giving her could have melted the was in her birthday candles.

Her siblings had all chipped in and bought her a new phone for her birthday and Carly had enthusiastically volunteered to show her how all the features worked and get her set up on Instagram and Snapchat. Chris took it from her and plugged it in to start charging as her mom placed a big box in her lap and then retreated to sit on the arm of her husband’s chair.

Riley pulled off the bow and stuck it on Jessa’s head before tearing the wrapping paper. She stopped when she saw the logo on the box. “Is this the actual box or a recycled box?” she asked her mom before she went any further.

“That’s the actual box, sweetie.”

Riley broke out in a grin and ripped the rest of the wrapping paper away.

“Now, I hope you don’t mind but I emailed one of your professors and asked them to recommend which laptop to get you so it could run that GIS software you use so much.”

Riley would take the time to be embarrassed about her mom contacting a professor later. Right now she was too busy reading the specs on the shiny new laptop sitting in her lap. Her old one couldn’t run a full version of GIS so she spent hours in the computer lab at school doing her homework. Now she would be able to do it at home. “This is so amazing.” She shoved the box into Chris’s lap and threw herself at her parents, squeezing them both tight enough that they couldn’t breathe for a few seconds. “I didn’t expect anything like this at all. I mean, you guys paying my tuition again is huge and I didn’t even expect anything besides Mom making me dinner and a birthday cake.”

Her dad pulled her down on the other arm of his chair and handed her a credit card. “We’re your parents and we’re very proud of you, and this is to buy whatever version of that program that has all the fancy bells and whistles you need. Everything’s downloadable these days so we don’t have a box to wrap, but you get the one you want. Your mom and I looked and couldn’t figure out the difference between all the versions but I’m sure you can.”

“You guys are gonna make me cry and ruin my makeup.” She wiped carefully under her eyes.

“Don’t you dare ruin her makeup!” Jessa scolded. “Do you know how long it took me to get her eyeliner completely perfect?”

Riley giggled and sniffled and dabbed delicately at the tears. “She’s going to be a Hollywood makeup artist in a few years.”

“So Riley,” Carly casually said, “what did Chris get you for your birthday?”

“He’s taking me dancing tonight.”

Carly wrinkled her nose. “Is that it?”

“Carly!” everyone in the room said. Even Marcus looked at her in reproof.

“Actually,” Chris interrupted the scolding he could see brewing in Mom’s eyes, “I did get her a gift. Bandit, fetch the present.”

Bandit hopped up from his place near Chris’s feet and hurried from the room. A few seconds later he came back, pulling a large gift bag.

“Give it to Riley.”

Bandit dropped the bag at Riley’s feet and she gave him ear scratches. “Such a good boy!”

Riley picked up the bag and sat back down next to Chris. “You’re a good boy, too” she whispered before kissing his cheek.

“Well, what’s in the bag,” asked Carly, her phone now directed at them.

Riley reached in the huge blue bag, through the silver tissue paper, and grabbed the large box inside. She pulled it half way out of the bag, saw the brand on the box, and shoved it back in. “You did not.”

Chris grinned and nodded. “I did too.”

“You spoil me.”

Carly groaned. “What is it?”

Riley pulled out the box and flipped it so Carly could see the Old Pueblo brand. Carly and Jessa both shrieked. Everyone else started laughing.

“Open the box, silly!” Jessa demanded.

Riley laughed and opened the box and then gasped. “Ohhhh, they’re gorgeous.” She ran her fingers over the soft leather and touched the tiny embroidered blue flowers. “They’re perfect. And they match my dress!” She kissed Chris hard for a few seconds before she went back to admiring her new boots.

“Try them on, honey,” her mom prompted when she got tired of watching Riley fondle her new footwear.

Riley pulled off her old boots and then reached down the shaft of the new ones to pull out the packing material that helped the boots keep their shape. With a happy sigh she pulled them on. “Oh, they fit perfectly.” She stood up and took a few steps. Her brow furrowed. “I think I didn’t get all of the stuff out of this one.” She plopped back down on the couch, pulled off the left boot, turned it upside down and gave it a shake.

A diamond ring fell out and landed on the carpet at her feet.

Riley wasn’t sure if her gasp was the loudest but it definitely wasn’t the only one. She didn’t move. Chris did, though. He knelt at her feet, picked up the ring, and held it out to her. “Marry me?”

She slid off the couch and landed on her knees right in front of him. Her mouth opened but nothing came out so she nodded.

“Yes?”

She nodded again. “Yes,” she choked out. “Yes, yes, yes! I’ll marry you.” She threw her arms around his neck and he pulled her nice and close. Riley started crying and Chris kissed her and that made her cry even more, which set off her mom. He finally pulled away long enough to slip the ring on her finger.

“Thank you, Blue. Thank you for loving me.”

She looked at the ring and then back up at him. “I guess I wasn’t kidding about us getting married some Christmas.”

He nodded and she wiped away the tear that had escaped. “Christmas wedding. I’ll be the one down front with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen.”

“Can Bandit come?”

He laughed. “Yes, Bandit can come. We’ll get him his own bow tie.”

Bandit knew they were talking about him and nosed his way into the middle of their hug. “I’m gonna marry you, Officer,” Riley grinned and kissed Chris one more time while she scratched Bandit just where he liked so his back leg started thumping.

He swatted her bum. “You’re gonna make me the happiest man in the world.” He kissed her again. “Now let’s go eat some mud cake.”

[ _Mud Cake_ ](http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/mississippi-mud-cake)

 


End file.
